Shot by the Past
by islashlove
Summary: This is my sequel to my story 'The Marriage Proposal'. It is my first Crossover story. Psych and Diagonsis murder Shawn and Lassie are on their honeymoon that Shawn's dad had paid for. While there Shawn is seen by someone who is not happy with him being with Lassiter. Slash story Shawn/Lassie and Steve/Jesse
1. A Shot Rings Out in LA

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own anything that is from Psych or Diagnosis Murder.**

**Beta: Yes,**** I would like to say thank you to my Beta jerseybelle**

**Warning:**** This is a slash story, which means man on man. If you don't like these types of stories, please don't read. Pairings will be Shawn/Lassie established relationship and Steve/Jesse.**

**Author's Notes:**** This is my sequel to my story 'The Marriage Proposal'. It is my first Crossover story. The idea comes from reviewer and my friend EvE79.**

**Story Notes:**** Shawn and Lassie are on their honeymoon that Shawn's dad had paid for. While there Shawn is seen by someone who is not happy with him being with Lassiter.**

**Shot by the Past:**** By islashlove**

**Chapter 1:**** A Shot Rings Out in L.A.**

Lassiter tipped the bellboy, thanked him and then closed the door. Turning around he couldn't help but smile and give a little giggle when he saw Shawn jumping up and down on the bed. He couldn't believe that three weeks ago he married this man/child and three weeks ago he nearly lost him, as well. As Shawn suddenly flopped onto the bed gasping for breath, Lassiter rushes over to him.

"Shawn, are you ok?"

Shawn just replied by putting his hand up between them indicating for Lassiter to wait for a second. After Shawn finally caught his breath, he gave Lassiter a weak smile.

"Guess I'm not ready to jump on the bed yet. Man this honeymoon is going to be boring for you, if I have trouble like that when we're…" And to show what he meant Shawn pulled Lassiter into a gentle kiss.

A very gentle kiss, as Lassiter remembered that Shawn's lips were still very sore from the acid attack. So Lassiter also made sure that it was a quick one too. He didn't want to hurt Shawn physically, but he knew that keeping his distance was hurting him in a deeper way, even if Shawn said he understood. But just this simple kiss had caused Shawn's lips to bleed and Lassiter had to tend to them.

After they unpacked their bags and Shawn had checked out the welcoming gift baskets, they headed out to do some shopping. Lassiter had agreed Shawn was right, shop for the gifts to take back now and then it wouldn't be a mad rush just before the leave.

They had looked in a few places and had just about gotten everyone something. They were looking for the last gift, something for Chief Vick, when Shawn heard his name being called. Looking around, he saw a man in a navy blue suit walking his way.

"Shawn, Shawn Spencer, is that you?" It took Shawn a few seconds to realise who it was.

"Kevin… Oh, my god, Kevin Lake! What is the world are you doing here?"

"Got my law degree and joined a law firm. They sent me here as my first job and I liked it and stayed. What about you and what did you do to yourself?"

"Do to myself, what do you mean?"

"Your lips, they look like you've been kissing the ground again, after you had been thrown from your bike. Or…"

"Or what?"

"Or have you gotten yourself into one of those types of relationships again?"

"No, I haven't," Shawn said in a defensive voice. "I'm actually here on my honeymoon."

"Easy there, Shawn, I didn't mean anything by it," Kevin said taken a step forward in order to comfort Shawn, instead, Shawn backed away.

"Shawn!" Lassiter voice rang out, making both men jump. "Is everything ok here?" Lassiter asked as he walked up and put his arm around Shawn's shoulders.

"Everything's fine, Lassie. Oh, Carlton, I would like you to meet a friend of mine. Kevin, please meet my wonderful and amazing husband, Carlton Lassiter and Carlton, please meet Kevin Lake."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Lake," Lassiter said holding out his hand, but as Kevin took it, Lassiter eyed him off.

"Likewise, Mr. Lassiter." And he too was sizing Lassiter up.

The two men shook hands, but neither one wanted to be the first to let go. Finally the tension got to Shawn and he broke them apart.

"Well, Kevin…Lassie and I need to get going."

"Ok, Shawn, I'll…" Kevin's words are cut short as he noticed that one of Shawn's lips had started to bleed.

Lassiter had also noticed it bleeding and reached over with a hankie to wipe it up. Unfortunately, with the recent events still fresh in his mind and Shawn not realising what Lassiter was up to, he moved away from the approaching hand.

"Easy, Shawn," Lassiter said as he put his hand behind Shawn's head and wiped away the blood. Shawn gave Kevin a weak apologetic smile. "I think we better get you back to the hotel so I can treat that."

"It's ok, Lassie, I'm feeling a bit tired anyway. That last hospital stay has really taken a toll on me. Sorry, Kevin, but we better get going, but before we go, do you know a good place to eat around here?"

"Yes, Shawn, I do. Try Barbecue Bobs over there," Kevin said as he pointed across the road to the nearby restaurant. "And just mention my name and you will get a good table."

Shawn looked over towards the restaurant Kevin had pointed out. It looked like a quaint little place and Shawn saw that a lot of hospital staff and police officers were either going in or come out of it. To which, in his mind, meant it must be a good place and with the police being there, Lassie would feel at home.

"Thanks for that, Kevin."

"Yeah, thanks; come on, Shawn, we better get going." And with that, Lassiter guided Shawn away from Kevin and off towards their hotel.

After Shawn had a couple of hours sleep, a nice hot shower and gotten dressed, Lassiter treated and dressed Shawn's wounds. Seeing, that Shawn was nearly back to his old self, he felt like he could ask Shawn the question he wanted about Kevin.

"Shawn, Kevin is he…"

"He's not an ex Lassie. He came to my rescue when I was in an abusive relationship, that's all. Kevin is just a friend."

"Ok, so shall we go?"

"Let's, I'm starving."

It was a nice evening, so Lassiter and Shawn decided to walk. Lassiter watched as Shawn looked around in wonder at the sights of the city lights. Anyone would easily think Shawn had never been to a city before, let alone live in one. As they arrived at Barbecue Bobs, Shawn noticed a tall, well built, blonde man walking into the restaurant ahead of them. He also noticed that he had a gun holster on.

Shawn was just about to say something, when a gun shot rang out. He felt Lassiter's body collided with his as he fell forward and the next thing he knew, Lassie was lying on the ground, with a pool of blood forming around him.

Shawn was so focused on trying to help Lassiter that he didn't hear someone talking to him. And when hands started grabbing at him and trying to drag him away, Shawn started to fight. But his body was too weak and all Shawn ended up doing was blacking out.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story**


	2. Shawn Meets the Sloan's

**Chapter 2:**** Shawn Meets the Sloan's**

Shawn let out a low groan. His head hurt. His stomach hurt as well, hell all of his body hurt and why not. It was just over two weeks since Lassie's ex had tried to kill him and he was still feeling the after effects. He was still trying to recover from the spider bite as well.

As he laid there, Shawn's mind decided to remind him of what had happened. He watched as he and Lassie were waiting to go into BBQ Bob's and the man in front of them with the gun holster on. Then it slowed down as Lassie started to fall forward, pulling Shawn with him. The shock, the pain on his face scared Shawn and then there was the blood on the ground and someone trying to pulling him away. As it all faded away, Shawn sat up in bed.

"Lassie!"

"Easy there, son," someone said as they placed a firm, yet gentle hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down.

Shawn turned his head so he could see the person talking. He was an elderly gentleman, in his late sixties or early seventies in a white doctor's coat, so he now knew he was in hospital. The man had short, silvery-white hair and his face was covered in wrinkles, but the type of wrinkles confused him. Where most doctors have worry lines, this doctor's lines were made up of more laugh lines than the other.

But it was the doctor's eyes that had him the most, they were kind looking. Most doctors Shawn had dealt with had eyes that were tired and full of frustration. This doctor's eyes were different; they were full of love, kindness and concern. Suddenly, Lassiter was back at the front of Shawn's thoughts.

"Carlton," Shawn said with a raspy voice, "is he…he's ok, isn't he?"

"Carlton?" The doctor said looking confused at what Shawn had said. "Was he with you?"

"Yes, he was shot. We were going out to dinner and…"

"Jesse has him in surgery," a new voice said from the other side of the room.

Shawn looked in the direction of the new voice. Standing in the door way was an older man, but not as old as the doctor was, most likely in his late forties. He had short, sandy coloured hair and was wearing blue jeans and a beige T-shirt. Shawn knew straight away he was a cop as he had a gun in a holster and a police badge hanging off his belt. When he looked at the cop's face, he could see the same wrinkles as in the doctor's face, just not as many, and the same eyes. Shawn guessed they were related, most likely father and son.

"Surgery! Lassie was hurt that badly?" Shawn said as he started to sit up again.

"Easy there Mr. Spencer, can you lay back down for me."

"Sure, but call me Shawn, my Dad is Mr. Spencer."

"Alright, Shawn," the doctor laughed, "and I am Dr. Sloan, but you can call me Mark; sound ok to you?"

"Are you sure you're a doctor, and your son there a cop?"

"Yes, I'm a doctor and Steve is a cop."

"How did you know I was his son?"

"I'm…" Shawn suddenly realised where he had seen this man before. He was the man that was in front of him at BBQ Bob's and was the man trying to pull him away from Lassie. "You were at the restaurant. You were the one pulling me away from Lassie," Shawn said as his voice got louder.

"Yes, I was and you were stopping Jesse from getting anywhere near him."

"Jesse? Who is this Jesse? It's the second time you have mentioned them."

"Dr. Jesse Travis is the doctor in charge of the Emergency Department here at Community General," Mark explained in a calm voice. "He is also one of the best surgeons we have here and if you don't believe me, just asked Steve there. Jesse has saved his life plenty of times."

Shawn looked at Steve again. Steve could see sadness and guilt in Shawn eyes, he also saw fear.

"Do you feel like answering some questions?"

"Steve…do you really need to question him right now?"

"Dad, you know the…"

"The quicker you can get the information you need the quicker you can get out there and find the person or persons who did this," Shawn said interrupting Steve.

"You're on the force?"

Shawn gave Steve a look-to-kill. "No, I'm not. Lassie…"

"Who is Lassie and why has your concern for Carlton changed?" Steve asked he was confused at this young man's behaviour; he didn't seem to stay on the same topic for very long.

"Lassie is what I call Carlton most of the time. He's my husband and we are here on our honeymoon."

'_So, now we are getting somewhere'_ Steve thought to himself.

"Has Carlton ever hit you?" Mark asked.

"No! Where did you get that idea from?"

"Your mouth, the few broken bones you have…," Mark had picked up Shawn's chart and was reading from it.

"Ok, I know now where you got the idea from, but Lassie wouldn't and didn't hurt me. His ex-wife did." Shawn could see the father and son staring at him so he went on to explain. "She didn't like the idea of her ex marrying a man. It hurt her stature in sociality. She had put a big spider on my motor bike the night we got married and I crashed my bike. The spider also bit me. In the hospital, she gave my best friend what he thought was water, but it was acid instead. She died on the operating table from a knife wound she had received when she fell fighting Detective Juliet O'Hara."

"I take it they had enough evidence against her."

"Yeah, my doctor at the time had set up video surveillance in my room. The whole thing was caught on film. I really owe Dr Jack Stewart my life."

"Dad, remind me that the next time I talk to Jack, to remind him, that he is a doctor not a cop. You really do have a bad influence on your students. Anyway, we have sort of gotten off track here. What is yours and your husband's name and occupations, please?"

"I'm Shawn Spencer, and I'm a psychic detective who works for the Santa Barbara Police Department and that is why I knew you two were father and son." Shawn watched as Steve rolled his eyes before continuing. "And Lassie is Head Detective Carlton Lassiter of Santa Barbara and if you want proof ring our Chief, Karen Vick."

"I will be, now do you have any idea who would want to hurt your husband other than the ones he has arrested?"

"What makes you think they were after Lassie?"

"It looks like it was a hit, now, do you have anything to say to me."

Shawn sat there thinking; only two things came to mind, where the shot came from and the other was Kevin Lake. Putting his hand in his vision pose on his head, Shawn began to talk.

"The shot came from the second floor of the building across the road." Shawn paused for a second as he tried to focus on what he had seen. "The third middle window, I can see a shadowy figure looking out after the shot and then disappearing."

"Can you see who it is?" Mark asked.

"No, I can't see who it is, sorry, but I, we, ran into an old friend of mine today and he used to be involved with a group call, P.A.P.V, People against Partner Violence. I don't know if he is still with them."

"And his name is?"

"Kevin, Kevin Lake, he's a…"

"I know Kevin," Steve said, "I'll go and talk to him right now. Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?" Steve said as he started to head for the door.

"Sure, Steve. I'll be back," Mark said nodding at Shawn and then following Steve out.

"Dad, can you see if you can keep him here for a while?"

"He's not going anywhere at the moment, Steve."

"Thanks, Dad," and with that Steve walked away and Mark went back to Shawn.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	3. Shawn Makes a New Friend

**Chapter 3:**** Shawn Makes a New Friend**

As Mark walked back into the room he saw that Shawn was sitting on the edge of his hospital bed trying to put his shoes on. Mark could also see the pain in Shawn's face as his body protested against this movement.

"And what do you think you are doing?" Mark asked.

"I'm getting dressed and then I'm going to see my husband, Dr. Sloan."

"Firstly, you can call me Mark and secondly, you can go and see your husband as soon as I say you can, but right now, he's still in surgery. Now, will you please get back into bed?" Shawn was just about to protest, when a woman walked in.

She was a tall, slim woman with brown olive skin. Her shoulder length black hair shimmered in the light. Shawn could easily see that she, too, was a doctor, but not the same type of doctor as Dr. Sloan. No, by the look of the coat she was wearing, she did the same job as Woody. Another thing Shawn noticed was the few personal items she was wearing, which indicated that she was a mother, but the faded ring mark on her ring finger, told Shawn that she was either divorced, separated or her husband was dead.

"Hi, Mark, you seen Jesse?"

"Amanda," Mark said turning around to look at the young woman, "Jesse is in surgery right now, is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, I'm fine. It was just that Jesse was supposed to meet me at Bob's, but when I got there it was closed and I was told that there had been another shooting there and I knew both Steve and Jesse were working there tonight."

"Another shooting! Excuses me, but how many shootings have there been at that place and more importantly, how many survived?" Shawn said franticly.

"Easy there, Shawn, Bob's has only had two shootings at it, and only my son was shot in the first of the shootings. Amanda, this is Shawn Spencer, it was his husband that was shot and that Jesse is now operating on."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your husband, but he is in the best hands with Jesse," Amanda said smiling at Shawn.

"Thank you. Sorry about my reaction, it's just that, Lassie and I haven't actually had the best run in our relationship."

"Let me guess, he doesn't believe you're a psychic?"

"No, he doesn't. How…"

"Steve, he would be the same way about it."

"Yeah, I did sense his disbelief," Shawn said putting his hand to his head.

Mark let out a little laugh at Shawn's act and Amanda just looked at the two men. Shaking her head, Amanda knew full well that Mark didn't believe in psychic's either, but decided to leave it for now and to talk to him about it later.

"If it was his partner that was shot, why is he here?"

"Steve tried to get him out of the way, so Jesse could treat his husband, when..."

"And because I'm still recovering from an attempt on my life, I was weak and…I fainted." Shawn said a little embarrassed.

"Oh, and Amanda," Mark said looking back and forth between Amanda and Shawn, "our friend Jack Stewart helped save Shawn's life."

"Well, that doesn't surprise me. Jack is like Jesse, can never stay out of trouble. How is Jack, Mr. Spencer?"

"I prefer Shawn and he was good the last time I saw him. He did say it was his friend and mentor who had trained him to do what he did. I guess I owe you a lot, Mark."

"Don't worry about it."

"So, Shawn…" Amanda started, but got a little worry about asking her question, "a psychic, really?"

Laughing, Shawn just gave her a knowing look.

"You want me to prove it?"

"I can't see how you can."

"Well," Shawn said putting his hand on his head, "you work more with dead people then the living and you were at one point, married and you have children. How was that for starters?"

"That…that was amazing!" Amanda said as Mark tried to stifle a laugh.

Just then Amanda's phone rang and she excused herself in order to answer it. After she left Shawn gave Mark another look over.

"You don't believe I'm a psychic either, do you Mark?"

Mark turned and looked at Shawn smiling. Shawn knew it wasn't going to be easy to pull one over this man.

"I do not believe you are a psychic, Shawn. But I do believe you have a very special talent and you know how to use it well."

'It's more of a curse," Shawn whispered to himself and then he continued to speak to Mark. "What talent do you think I have?"

"I believe you have a photographic memory and you were well trained in how to use it. I also believe you were trained to be a police officer."

"Detective, in fact; my Dad wanted me to be a detective. Are you going to hand me in?"

"Now why would I do that?"

"Because you know I'm a fraud," Shawn said confused by Mark's knowledge, yet lack of concern about what he was doing.

"Shawn, you are using your talent to help the police and to help other people. Why in the world would I want to stop you from doing that?" Mark could see Shawn was just about to say something, so he raised his hand to silence the young man before him. "I know I have only just met you and I don't really know your life story, but from what I can see, you have a good heart."

"Thank you," Shawn said a little weary about the older man. He's not use to people being so trusting. "How long will it be before I can see Lassie?"

"I don't know. How about you lay back and relax and I will go out and see if I can find out."

"Thank you," Shawn yawned as he leaned back against the pillows.

By the time Mark reached the door and turned back to say something, Shawn was already asleep. Smiling to himself, Mark headed off to check up on how Shawn's husband and Jesse were doing and to make a few arrangements for Shawn.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	4. The Phone Call

**Chapter 4:**** The Phone Call**

As soon as Steve arrived back at the station, he arranged a meeting with Chief Masters and Captain Newman to explain about what was happening with the shooting at BBQ Bob's and who the victim was.

As soon as Steve said that the victim was a cop, a head detective no less, they knew that his chief would want one of their own officers involved with the case and since Steve was the leading officer for the case, he was given the task of calling the chief of the Santa Barbara police department. He was to accept any offer of help that they could give him, but to keep Captain Newman and Chief Masters in the know as well.

Now Steve sat at his desk. He knew he needed to make that call, but he was trying to work out what to say. He had always had trouble talking to his own chief, so ringing another chief, in another city, to tell them that one of their officers had been shot in his city, well…for Steve this is going to be one hard phone call to make. Picking up the phone he waited for it to ring. He was just glad he took the time to get some information on the chief he was ringing first.

_"__Ring"_

_"__Ring"_

"_Rin_...

"Good evening, Santa Barbara Police Station, Officer McNab speaking How may I help you tonight?"

Steve was impressed with officer's way of answering the phone, very polite, very professional.

"Good Evening, Officer McNab. I'm Detective Lieutenant Steve Sloan from Los Angeles. I know it's late, but I was wondering if your Chief was available."

"Can you please hold while I check?"

"Yes, I can hold." Steve listened as he was put on hold; the music coming through the phone was a nice tune, the type that his dad had brought him up on. He just hoped that it wouldn't take too long before he talked to Chief Vick.

Meanwhile in Santa Barbara

McNab made his way across the bullpen floor quickly. He knew that Chief Vick had been in a meeting of sorts with Detective O'Hara, Mr. Spencer and Mr. Guster about half an hour ago and couldn't remember seeing any of them leave, so he hoped they were still there. To his relief when he knocked on her door the chief asked him to enter.

As McNab entered he quickly looked around and saw that they were all still there. Nodding his head to greet them he then turned back to Chief Vick.

"Sorry to disturb you, Chief, but a Detective Lieutenant Steve Sloan of the LAPD is on line two for you."

"Thank you, McNab," Chief Vick said and then watched as he disappeared closing the door behind him. "Who wants to bet this is about either Carlton or Shawn or both," Chief Vick said smiling at the people with her.

"If it is about them, pretend you have no idea who they are," Henry said laughing.

If he knows his son as well as he does, well it wouldn't surprise him if this call was about those two. Everyone joined in on the laughter and all Karen could do was roll her eyes and indicate for them to calm down. Once they did she picked up the phone and pressed line two.

"Hello, Lt. Sloan, this is Chief Karen Vick of Santa Barbara. How can I help you this fine evening?"

Steve was a little put off by the happiness in Chief Vick's voice. God he hated giving this type of bad news.

"Good evening, Chief Vick. I, sorry, I mean to say, do you know a Carlton Lassiter and a Shawn Spencer?"

"Yes, Lt. Sloan, I do know them. Carlton Lassiter is my head detective and Shawn Spencer is my department's head psychic. What did they do?"

"I'm sorry, Chief Vick, but I have to inform you that Detective Lassiter was shot earlier this evening by a person unknown. When I left the hospital, he was in surgery and Mr. Spencer was being checked over by a doctor. They are both at the Community General Hospital."

"Is Mr. Spencer alright?" Chief Vick watched as the smiles disappeared from everyone's face and they sat up looking at her.

"Mr. Spencer just collapsed at the scene, but I do believe he will be staying for observation, at least for tonight. I was wondering if I could get a list of people who would most likely want to hurt Detective Lassiter sent down to me?"

"Yes, yes of course, I will and I would like my Detective O'Hara to be involved with the case as well."

"My Chief said you would and we have no worries with you sending someone down to assist me. I will also need Detective Lassiter's medical records as well as Mr. Spencer's, if that is possible."

"I will have all that information and Detective O'Hara there by the morning and Lieutenant Sloan…"

"Yes, Chief Vick?"

"Thank you for calling."

"You're welcome and I will be waiting on your Detective's arrival." With that both Steve and Chief Vick hung up.

"What happened," O'Hara's voice broke the silence.

"What did Shawn do this time to get the police involved?" Henry added.

Chief Vick looked up to the expected faces of those in the room with her. How was she supposed to tell them that Lassiter had been shot? "Just give me a minute, please," taking a deep breath, Chief Vick steadied herself and pressed a button on her phone. "McNab, can you come here please?" A few minutes later, there was a knock on her door. "Enter."

"You wanted to see me, Chief?"

"Yes, I need you and O'Hara to go through Detective Lassiter's files and find the names of the people that have threatened to kill him and which ones are now out of prison. O'Hara once you have done that, I need you to get ready, as I'm sending you to LA to help in the investigation of who shot Lassiter." Chief Vick watched as this information sank in, but as soon as they went to speak she raised her hand and continued. "Mr. Guster or Henry, are either of you able to go with O'Hara to keep an eye on Mr. Spencer?"

"I can," both Henry and Gus said together.

"Fine, you both will go as well, but I want to know what is happening. At the moment Lassiter is in hospital after being shot, Mr. Spencer collapsed at the scene and is in hospital as well. Now get going and as soon as you are ready to leave, come back and see me."

"Yes, Chief," Juliet said as she stood and headed off with McNab.

Henry and Gus stayed just a little longer to reassure Chief Vick that Lassiter was going to be fine and that they would be back soon.

Two hours later, Juliet, Henry, Gus, McNab and Chief Vick were out front of the station ready to go.

"Now, when you get there you are to find a Detective Steve Sloan, he is leading the investigation."

"Yes, Chief and we will keep you up to date," O'Hara said as Chief Vick gave her the last instruction.

"We will be back soon, Karen and whoever did this will be sorry," Henry added.

Chief Vick and McNab watched as O'Hara, Henry and Gus climbed in the car. She just hoped that the three that were going would come back as five.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	5. LAPD meet SBPD

**Chapter 5:**** LAPD meet SBPD**

Henry pulled the car to a stop in front of the LAPD building and turned the engine off. Looking over at his sleeping traveling partners in the back, he smile at the way they laid. Juliet was wrapped up in Gus' arms with her head resting on his chest and Gus had his arms around her holding her so close.

It was hard to think that just over five hours ago that they were just getting ready to go out to get dinner, when the call came in. Now, he was sitting in another town, to see another detective about the shooting of his son-in-law and to find out if his son was ok.

Giving Gus a little shake, he watched as the man that he had watched grow up beside his son slowly open his eyes and looked around.

"What…"

"We're here, Gus. Do you what to wake Juliet up?"

"Oh sure, Mr. Spencer. Jules, come on, we're here."

Juliet rubbed her head against Gus' chest, which made the young man stiffen a little. She then sat up. Looking at Gus she could see the shocked look in his face and she felt the burning in her cheeks.

"Sorry, Gus, I…"

"Don't worry about it, Jules; umm…Mr. Spencer just wanted me to wake you up because we're here."

"Right, sorry, Mr. Spencer. Now where is…"

"The files are on the front seat and I suggest that you straighten your hair up a little, Juliet."

"Yes, of course I should." Climbing out of the car, all three walked around to the trunk.

Juliet stopped there and went through her bag trying to find her hairbrush, while Henry and Gus grabbed the files. Once they were ready, they headed into the station anticipating meeting this Detective Sloan.

Steve was still going over some of the information he had. His dad had called to tell him that Detective Lassiter was out of surgery, but was still in critical condition. As for his husband Shawn, his dad had no reason to keep him in, but said that he hasn't left Lassiter's bedside.

Steve rang both the personal and business phones of Kevin Lake and since he answered neither, he left messages for him to contact him as soon as he could. Stretching, he looked around the bullpen; it was empty bar a few officers, the rest had gone home for the night. That is when he saw the people walk in.

There were two men and a woman. The oldest out of all of them was one of the men. He stood tall, had greying short hair and was wearing a blue shirt with jeans. He was also carrying some files. The other man was…he wasn't sure, but most likely African-American with a shaved head and wore a striped shirt with the sleeves rolled half way up his arms and he too was in jeans and carrying files. The woman was the only one to dress professionally in her navy blue two piece suit with a white shirt. Her long blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail. Since everyone else was busy in the station, Steve got up to greet them.

"Good evening, can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Detective Juliet O'Hara from Santa Barbara. I'm here to see a Detective Steve Sloan."

"And that would be me, nice to meet you Detective O'Hara. Too bad it has to be under these circumstances. Please, let's go in here," Steve said as he led them into an empty room.

Gus and Henry placed the files onto the table. Gus walked over and stood against the wall behind Juliet and Henry sat down beside her. Steve took the seat on the other side of the table and eyed off the two men.

"Detective Sloan, this is Henry Spencer, he is in charge of the consultants for my department and he is also Shawn's father. Behind me is Burton Guster and he is Shawn's business partner and best friend."

"Again, I am sorry that we are meeting for such a reason as this," Steve said as he shook hands with both Henry and Gus.

"And you too, Detective," Henry said.

"Please, call me Steve and please, don't take this the wrong way, but if you don't mind, why are you here?"

"Gus and I are here for Shawn and support for Juliet."

"Detective Lassiter, Shawn, Gus and I are a team. We have worked together for a long time, Steve, and well…someone hurts one of us then…"

"I understand. My Dad, Dr. Mark Sloan, my best friend, Dr. Jesse Travis and friend Dr. Amanda Bentley work alongside me all the time. I'd feel the same way if something would happen to any of them. So do you want to work on the files or see your friends first?"

"We would like to see how Shawn and Lassiter are doing first."

"Sure."

"Doesn't your hospital have visiting hours?" Gus asked.

"Yes it does, but when you're the son of the Chief of Internal Medicine, well…you get to go there when you need to," Steve said with a bit of a laugh.

"So do you have somewhere to stay?"

"We're going to find something tomorrow, right now we just want to see Shawn and find out how Lassiter is. What are we going to do with the files?"

"Just a second," Steve said as he ducked out of the room.

"Well, he seems like a nice detective," Gus said.

"True, I just hope he won't be too long. I really want to get to Shawn."

"We will be there soon, Mr. Spencer. I just hope we find out who did this and that Lassiter is ok."

Outside

Steve waited for his dad to pick up. When it did, Steve just went straight to the point he was calling.

"Hi, Dad, look, do you think we could have three people staying over?"

"Who are these three people, Steve?"

"Shawn Spencer's Dad, his best friend and the cop that was sent down to help me. It would just make it easier to work on this case if we're in the same place."

"I've got no problems with that Steve. When will I get to meet them?"

"We're just about to head over to the hospital now. How is Detective Lassiter?"

"Still the same and Shawn still hasn't moved from his side."

"Ok, Dad. See you soon." Steve hung up and headed back to the others.

"Right, I have somewhere for you all to stay and we can take the files with us. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes we are," Henry said with a little bite.

"Why all the files?" Steve asked as they picked them up.

"Well…we figured that Shawn was here, too, so we brought some of the people who had threatened him as well. Just in case."

"Good thinking. Well let's go, you can follow me to the hospital."

And with that they headed out of the station and into their cars. The drive to the hospital was done in silence.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	6. Shawn Puts His Foot Down

**Chapter 6:**** Shawn Puts His Foot Down**

After following Steve to the hospital, they went with him as he led the way to a small room that had a table and chairs, a few lounge chairs and a coffee machine. Henry was about to say something to Detective Sloan when three other people walked in.

"Steve, what are you doing here?" the elderly gentleman asked.

Steve turned around and smiled at his dad and friends who had just joined them.

"Dad, Amanda and Jesse, I would like you to meet Detective Juliet O'Hara, Mr. Henry Spencer and Mr. Burton Guster. Detective O'Hara has come from Santa Barbara to help me investigate the shooting of her partner, Detective Lassiter."

"Well, I'm pleased to meet you and sorry that it has to be under these circumstances and please, call me Mark."

"Nice to meet you, too, Mark and please call me Juliet. Do you know how Carlton is?"

"Well, we will have to ask Jesse about that," Mark said as he turned and faced his friend.

"Right, I'm Dr. Travis, but everyone calls me Jesse and I'm the doctor who operated on Detective Lassiter. At the moment he is resting, but he should be ok. The bullet went straight through and we were lucky that it didn't touch any major organs, but with that said, Detective Lassiter did lose a lot of blood both at the scene and on the operating table and we had to give him a transfusion. Because of that and the fact that he was in surgery for so long we need to monitor him closely."

When Jesse looked up he could see Mr. Spencer and Detective O'Hara looking at Mr. Guster.

"He means Carlton is fine at the moment and was very lucky. How is Shawn?"

"Shawn is resting in Detective Lassiter's room and if you follow me, I will take you to him."

Everyone followed Jesse out of the small Doctor's lounge and down the hospital's nearly empty hallways. A few moments later they were walking in to the ICU and as soon as they did, they saw Shawn sitting beside Lassiter's bed.

"I can't believe that," Mark said with shock in his voice.

"What's wrong, Mark?" Amanda asked.

"I gave Shawn enough sleeping tablets that should have knocked him out for hours."

"I think you will find out that Shawn didn't take them," Henry offered as an explanation for Shawn not being asleep.

"But, I saw him take them."

"Sorry, Dr. Sloan, Shawn doesn't like taking drugs. It interferes with his gift."

"Anyway, with Carlton hurt, I doubt Shawn will sleep," Gus added.

"That's true," Henry answered back. "Gus, see if you can get him to go and get some sleep, please."

"Yes, Mr. Spencer, I'll take him back to the room where he and Carlton were staying."

"And, you know where that is?" Steve asked as he wanted to check the room out.

"I do," Henry said, "but I will stay with…"

"I'm not leaving him," Shawn's voice broke his dad's sentence.

"Shawn…" Henry said with a firm voice. "You need to get some sleep and Carlton isn't going anywhere."

Shawn stood up and walked over to the group. He looked at each and every one of them, before focusing back on his dad.

"I said, Dad, I am staying here with Carlton. I am not leaving this room unless Mark tells me I have to." Henry was taken back a little with the amount of anger in Shawn's voice, but decided to let it go for now.

"Shawn, please come with me. I'll take you back to your room, you can have a shower and some sleep. Your Dad will let us know if anything happens and I will bring you straight back. I promise," Gus said pleading to his friend.

"I'm not leaving Carlton's side and nothing you say will change my mind," Shawn replied, but his eyes never left his dad's.

"Shawn is welcome to stay here as long as he wants to. I can set up a cot in here, but you need to promise me, Shawn, that if something happens you must leave the room," Mark offered to try and defuse the situation.

"Thank you, Mark, I appreciate that," Shawn said looking at Mark through very tired eyes.

He then walked back to the seat he had left.

"Mark, Norman won't be happy with this," Amanda said worried that Mark will get in trouble.

"Not really, Amanda. Shawn is still my patent and I haven't discharged him yet and this way we will be able to keep an eye on both of them."

"I would still like to see the inside of their hotel room," Steve said bringing everyone's attention back to the topic of why they were there.

"Just a minute," Gus said as he headed over to Shawn.

They watched as the two men talked, with Shawn looking over his shoulder every so often at them. They then watched as he nodded his head, got up and walked over to the cupboard and retrieved something from it. He then walked back over to Gus, handed him the object and then sat back down. Gus just gave Shawn a small pat on the back before walking back over to the group.

"Here is the key for their hotel room and Shawn said you won't find any evidence of either of them trying to hurt the other there."

"I still need to check. Detective O'Hara, are you going to join me?"

"Yes, I will. Tell Shawn I will catch up with him and Carlton later."

"I will, Juliet," Henry said giving her arm a squeeze.

He knew it was hard for her to see her partner like that, hooked up to the machines by all the wires and tubes.

So Steve and Juliet left, heading over to Shawn and Lassiter's honeymoon suite to see what they could find, leaving behind Mark, Jesse, Amanda, Henry and Gus to talk.

"Would you like to go back to the Doctor's lounge so we could talk a bit better?" Mark asked Henry and Gus.

Both men looked at Shawn before answering yes. So while Mark went off to arrange the bed for Shawn, Amanda and Jesse took Henry and Gus back to the lounge. By the time Mark had joined them he had some good news to report.

"Shawn is fast sleep."

"That's good. He never did sleep well when he was a kid," Henry said as he remembered back to Shawn's childhood.

"'Yes, I know. Whenever we had a sleepover, I was always chasing him," Gus added.

"Well, that would have been associated with his eidetic memory I would guess," Mark said as he took his cup of coffee from Jesse, he then looked at the shocked faces of Henry Spencer and Burton Guster.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	7. What Steve and Juliet Learn!

**Chapter 7:**** What Steve and Juliet Learn!**

Steve and Juliet arrive at the hotel within ten minutes. As they climbed out of Steve's truck, Juliet looked around and saw a building that had crime tape around it.

"Is that where the shooting happened?" she asked as Steve walked around to join her.

"Yes, do you want to see it?"

"Yes, please."

They walked over to the tape and just as they ducked under it a young man walked over.

"Detective Sloan, I believe you have been trying to get hold of me?"

Steve looked up and saw Kevin Lake standing there.

"Kevin, yes I am chasing you. Thank you for getting back to me," Steve said as he shook Kevin's hand.

"You have a new partner?" Kevin said smiling at Juliet.

"Kevin Lake, I would like you to meet Detective Juliet O'Hara and she isn't a new partner; Detective O'Hara is just helping me with one case."

"So, Steve, what happened this time?" Kevin asked as he looked around at the scene.

"A man, Detective O'Hara's partner in fact, got shot earlier this evening and I believe you know his husband, Shawn Spencer."

"Always the cop, aren't you, Steve." Kevin laughed at the fact that Steve had gone straight into interviewing him. "Yes, I know Shawn. I helped him a while back when he was in an abusive relationship and...no offence to you, Detective O'Hara, but I think his husband is abusing him as well."

"For your information, Shawn's injuries were caused when Detective Lassiter's ex-wife tried to kill Shawn, which was less than four weeks ago. So before you start throwing around accusations, I suggest that you get your facts right."

"Sorry, I just saw the injuries and well…sorry. So, Steve, what do you want me for?"

"Your name came up when Shawn was telling us what had happened and you are involved with P.A.P.V."

"Yes, I'm involved with P.A.P.V, but I just help partners to sue or divorce their abusive partners. I wouldn't shoot someone."

"We have to check, you know that."

"What about others in your group?" Juliet asked.

"No, we help abused partners to escape the abuse. If we start going out there and hitting or killing the abuser then we are no better than they are."

"Easy, Kevin, you know we have to ask these questions, including this one. Where were you between five and seven this evening?"

"I was sitting in there, having a meeting with a client and since I suggested BBQ Bob's to Shawn, I was hoping to see him again."

"Ok, who…"

"You were sitting in this place at the time of the shooting?" Juliet interrupted Steve.

"Yes, why?"

"Because…I'm a little bit confused here. When you walked up here a moment ago, you asked Detective Sloan what happened, but if you were already here, how come you didn't already know that?"

Steve was impressed, he didn't even catch that. "Well, Kevin. Were you here or not?"

"No, I wasn't."

"Then where were you?"

"I, I was…" Kevin took a deep breath. "I was in Shawn's room, trying to find out if he was being abused."

"You broke into Lassiter's and Shawn's room?" Juliet said shocked by what she heard.

"Yes, but you don't understand. The last time, when I helped Shawn, the bastard nearly killed him, but Shawn still couldn't see it. I just thought that he couldn't or wouldn't believe it was happening again."

"Is that why you suggested to them to come to Bob's?" Steve asked a little annoyed that someone would use BBQ Bob's to assist in a crime.

"Yes, that and the fact that it is the best food around."

"Turn around, Kevin," Steve said as he took out his cuffs.

"What for?"

"Because you just confessed to breaking and entering, that's why."

"Oh, right."

Steve handcuffed Kevin and while he called for backup, Steve left Juliet to watch Kevin.

"If I find out that you had something to do with, or know anything about, the shooting of Detective Lassiter, I will come after you."

"I don't know anything for sure but, I did overhear someone, I don't know who they were and I'd never seen then before, but they were talking about killing a detective who was coming here for their honeymoon."

"When and where did you overhear this?"

"I heard it a few days ago, at the Sugar Bowl."

"The Sugar Bowl? What's that?"

"The Sugar Bowl is the local gay club. It will be closed at the moment, we can go there tonight," Steve said as he walked up and overheard the conversation.

"Ok, is back up on its way?" Juliet enquired.

"We're letting him go for now."

"What?"

"Don't worry, Detective, he won't be going anywhere, will you, Kevin?"

"No, my job's here and my life, plus, unless Shawn presses charges, there isn't much you can do about the charges."

"Don't you worry about that, Shawn will press charges," Juliet said glaring at Kevin.

"Go on, Kevin, you better go." Steve said hoping that the fiery blonde would just let it slide.

Juliet watched as Kevin walked away. She was mad that Detective Sloan had just let the only suspect they had walk away, especially since he had confessed to breaking into Shawn and Carlton's room.

"So I take it if we find the shooter and they're friends of yours they walk away too?" Juliet asked turning on Steve.

"No, and if you ever read my arrest reports you will see that I've arrested a lot of people I've known. Plus, you know we couldn't keep him without Shawn pressing charges," Steve said then taking a deep breath to calm himself he continued. "When we go to the club tonight I will have Kevin come with us and see if he can see the man again."

"Sorry, it's just that Carlton…"

"I understand," Steve said as he placed a hand on Juliet's shoulder. "Now, are you ready to check out their room?"

"Yes, please and Detective Sloan…"

"Don't! Just don't worry about it and please, call me Steve."

"Ok, Steve, and I am Juliet."

The two of them talked a little bit more as they walked towards the hotel Shawn and Lassiter were staying in.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	8. Back at the Hospital

**Chapter 8:**** Back at the Hospital**

Gus and Henry gave each one a concerned look. Had Shawn in his shocked state told Dr. Sloan the truth and if he did, what was Dr. Sloan going to do about it. Looking back at Dr. Sloan and the other two doctors in the room, Henry could see a slight smile on Dr. Sloan's face and confusion on the faces of the other two doctors'.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Sloan, what do you mean?" Henry asked trying to play down what was just said.

"What I mean is that from my experiences with past patients who have an eidetic memory, they, too, had trouble sleeping. But from what I see with Shawn is that he has learnt to control his memory very well."

Mark watched as what he had just said sank in. He wanted to know just how far Shawn's dad and friend would go to protect him.

Henry tried to stare down the elderly doctor. "I don't know what you mean, Shawn is psychic."

"Really, Mr. Spencer, but I'm sorry, I don't believe in psychics, but I can see how Shawn can make it out that he is one."

"No, Shawn is a psychic, Dr. Sloan. Otherwise, we would be committing fraud."

"That maybe the fact, Mr. Guster, but you have no worries that I will report you. What about you and Jesse, Amanda?"

"As long as Shawn isn't doing any real wrong, I can't see why we should hand him over to authorities. What about you, Jesse?"

"Me! You want to know what I think, Mark!" Jesse said with a hint of anger in his voice. "From where I'm standing, I have a patient that is stable, yet in critical condition, and right now, I don't really care if his partner is, or isn't, psychic."

Jesse then turned towards Henry and Gus.

"As for you Mr. Spencer and Mr. Guster, Mark here is the best at what he does, as a doctor and as a person, and you don't have to worry about him reporting either of you or Shawn, to the authorities, not even to Steve. Now," Jesse said taking a breath, "if you all can excuse me, I have patients to check on." And with that Jesse stood up and walked out of the room.

Mark watched as his young friend left. Jesse had been acting strange for a while now and he wasn't too sure why. He guessed that Jesse will let him know what was going on when he was ready, but for now, he was just giving the space he thought that he needed.

"Sorry about that; Jesse is just tired." Mark said trying to explain Jesse's behaviour.

"I'm sorry too, it's just…" Henry started to say.

"It's alright, Mr. Spencer; I would do the same thing if it meant protecting Steve and please, call me Mark."

Thank you, Mark, I'm Henry and this is Gus."

"And you can call me Amanda and I'm sure when Jesse calm's down, he won't mind it you call him Jesse, either."

"Gus?" Mark asked with a raised eyebrow at the dark man sitting across from him.

"Yeah, Shawn said he couldn't have a friend with the name Burton or Guster so he chose Gus for me and it has stuck ever since. Which…considering the other nicknames he gives me, I'm glad it's Gus." Gus laughed.

Henry, Mark and Amanda joined Gus in his laughter. Henry already knew the names that Shawn always gave Gus, so he could understand what he meant. For Mark and Amanda, from what they have learnt about Shawn, even is this short amount of time, they could easily imagine what Shawn would say.

As they talked, each side had learnt a lot about the other. They had learned that Henry and Mark's family history was very similar in the fact that they both came from a long line of police officers. But there was one thing that was very different, where Henry's family trained and pushed all the kids to be in the force, Mark's didn't. In fact, they supported him all the way in his decision to be a doctor and even if he wasn't happy that Steve had decided to become a cop, he still stood by Steve no matter what.

They had also learnt that Gus worked as a pharmaceutical salesman, but he was also the reluctant business partner of Shawn's in the psychic detective agency and that Shawn himself had tried, and mastered, many trades, even if he was very young. And even though she was a little reluctant, Amanda felt it safe enough to let Henry and Gus know that she had been in the system as a child and that she had two sons, but she didn't think that they need to know that one of them was adopted. Mark and Amanda also learnt that Henry and Gus were the only ones that knew Shawn wasn't a psychic, or at least they were, until now.

As Mark and Amanda listened to Henry and Gus tell them about Shawn's childhood and the journey through his life, to end with him and Detective Lassiter, they couldn't help feel sympathy for Shawn, not just with what had happened recently, but for the hard life he had seemed to have lived.

Mark could see that Henry loved his son, but because of Shawn's memory and the way he was brought up, he doubted that Henry could really connect with Shawn and this had put a strain on their relationship right from the start. Yes, all the training that Henry had given Shawn as a child truly helped Shawn to be able to control and utilise his abilities, it had also caused such a rift between them that just being civilised to each other was a struggle. Since Henry and Gus were going to be staying at the beach house, Mark started to hatch a plan to help Henry and Shawn to be closer.

Looking at his watch, Mark decided to do quick rounds and check on his patients and hopefully on Jesse, too, and then he would take Gus and Henry back to the beach house.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	9. Steve and Juliet get to Know Each Other

**Chapter 9:**** Steve and Juliet get to Know Each Other**

"So…your partner is gay, is he?" Steve asked as they walked along.

"Yes he is. Why, do you have a problem with that?"

"Not at all, it's just that, well…he doesn't look like he's new to the force and…"

"How does how long Carlton's been in the force have anything to do with the case?"

"It doesn't," Steve said shaking his head and letting out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry. I am just trying to understand how he could stand being a gay man in the force, that's all."

"Sorry, I guess I'm still trying to get over the shock that Carlton is gay. To be honest, no one knew until the night they got married and that was only because Gus and I were following Shawn and he led us to their wedding. The funniest thing is Shawn didn't even know that it was his wedding night."

"How did that work out?"

"It seems that Carlton had set up the wedding without Shawn knowing. How he did it, I'll never know, Shawn seems to know everything."

"Is that because he's a psychic?" Juliet could hear the scepticism in Steve's voice.

"I don't know if Shawn is psychic or not, but I will tell you that he knows things that he shouldn't know. Things that…without some sort of intervention, there is no way he could know. Even when we first met, Shawn was telling me things about myself and he didn't even know that I was a cop at the time."

Steve laughed. "Sounds interesting, but I still don't believe in psychics. So does the whole station know about your partner or just a few people?"

"Well, it was a little hard to hide it, considering that Carlton's ex-wife tried to kill Shawn on their wedding night. And before you ask, there are a few that are not happy that their Head Detective is gay, but overall, everyone is happy for them."

"Sounds like your partner is very well liked, then."

"Not really, although he has changed over the years. When I first met Carlton, he was not liked at all. He was straight to the point, no fun and a shoot first and ask later, kind of man. But over the years he learnt to be part of the team, instead of a one man show and the officers learnt to respect him instead of fearing him and I think we have Shawn to thank for that."

"They must really love each other, then?"

"Yes, they do."

Just then they arrived at the hotel. Steve looked back and forth between the hotel, BBQ Bob's and the building where the shooter had taken the shot. There wasn't much distance between any of them, which meant that the shooter could still be around, watching them. Shaking off the feeling that they were being watched, Steve and Juliet walked into the lobby and straight to the lady at check-in.

"Excuse me, but can you please get your manager down here now?" Steve said showing her his badge.

"Yes sir, please wait over there." The lady pointed to some chairs nearby.

Steve and Juliet walked over and took a seat. Somehow Steve had a funny feeling they were going to have to wait for a while.

"So, Jack helped you out when your…"

"Please, can you either call him Lassiter or Carlton? You are driving me up the wall with always referring to Carlton as my partner."

"Sorry, I've only ever had a few partners and I guess I don't really know how to deal with one. What I was asking you was that you met our friend, Dr. Jack Stewart, and he helped you out with the last attack on Shawn."

"Yes, you know Dr. Stewart?"

"Jack was a young doctor that Dad had taken under his wing and Jack ended up becoming one of my closet friends."

"That's nice and yes, if it wasn't for him, Shawn would be dead now. We own him a lot."

"Excuse me, I am Mr. Jones and I am the manager. I was told that you would like to talk to me?" A man dressed in a nice suit was standing in front of them.

"Yes, Mr. Jones," Steve said as he and Juliet both stood up and took out their badges. "I'm Detective Steve Sloan and this is Detective O'Hara. I believe that you have a Shawn Spencer and Carlton Lassiter staying here."

"Please, follow me." Mr. Jones led them to a room off to the side.

After closing the door, he indicated for them to sit at the desk and he walked around to the other side and sat down as well. He typed a few things into the computer and then waited for a second, before reading what had come up on the screen.

"Yes, we do have a Mr. Shawn Spencer and a Detective Carlton Lassiter staying with us in the…" Mr. Jones said as got a little closer to the screen. "Oh, it seems that they are staying in the honeymoon suite. That can't be right, can it?"

"Yes it can be, they were here on their honeymoon."

Can we see the room, please?" Steve asked.

"Can I ask what for?"

"Detective Lassiter was shot last night and we are investigating it."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, of course you can see the room and…that's funny."

"What's wrong?"

"Do you know if his husband had returned to the room at all?"

"No, Shawn is still at the hospital, why?" Juliet asked as she started to get this unsettling feeling in her stomach.

"Well…according to the electronic room key log, someone in that room right now."

"It couldn't be a maid?" Steve asked as he stood up.

"No, a different code is logged if it is a maid's key being used. It has to be either the key card they were given or the back up one kept here in the hotel."

"We have Shawn's key card," Juliet said as she, too, stood up.

"We're going up, I want you to check and see if the spare is still here."

"Yes, Detective Sloan," And with that Mr. Jones watched as the two detectives headed off towards the lifts.

Steve and Juliet made their way up to the honeymoon suite and when they were just outside the door they drew their guns. Nodding at Juliet, Steve watched as Juliet swiped the room key and the door clicked open.

As they entered the room, guns out in front of then, Steve and Juliet couldn't believe what they saw.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	10. What They Found

**Chapter 10:**** What They Found**

Juliet looked around the room. It was a mess. Not a Shawn Spencer mess, but as in someone had trashed it mess. Every piece of furniture had been tipped over or ripped apart.

As Juliet looked around the first room, Steve made his way into the bedroom to find it was the same, except for one major thing. There was blood everywhere and from under a pile of sheets, a leg was sticking out.

"O'Hara, I think you need to come in here," Steve called out as he edged closer to the leg.

"I think we need to talk to your friend Mr. Lake again," Juliet said as she walked through the door.

"I think we need to call this in first." He pointed out what he had found.

"I think you're right, but I think we still need to talk to your friend Mr. Lake again and also to the manager as well."

"Agreed, I'll call this in and once the team gets here we will go down and talk to the manager together. I'll also give Kevin a call and get him to meet us down stairs."

"Ok, I will have another look around while you make the calls," Juliet said as she walked back out of the room.

Juliet walked around the main room. It was a basically a large lounge room, but it had been decked out with a lot of expensive…well, now a lot of broken expensive stuff. Juliet could see that someone had been looking for something, but what? Shawn and Lassiter had finalised all their cases before leaving and as far as Juliet was concerned, they weren't carrying anything worth stealing, let alone, killing for.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom Steve had already called in the crime scene guys and had spoken to Captain Newman about what they had found out. Captain Newman didn't sound like he was happy, but told Steve to continue with what he was doing, while he made a few phone calls.

Steve then called Kevin Lake and once again, he got his message bank. Hoping that he hadn't made a mistake by letting him go, Steve left Kevin a message asking him to either ring him or meet him at the hotel. As he hung up, Steve got this unsettling feeling that something was wrong. Walking out to find Juliet, he realised what was up. Juliet O'Hara was standing there as quiet as a mouse while a masked man held a knife to her throat.

Steve raised his hand to show that he wasn't going to do anything funny. The person seemed nervous, scared even, and was looking around as if looking for something or someone.

"Easy there, I'm Detective Steve Sloan and that lady you have there is Detective Juliet O'Hara. Now come on, just let her go and we can talk."

"Talk, what makes you think I want to talk to you?"

"I," Steve glanced at Juliet and watched as a small trickle of blood started to run down her neck.

Looking into her eyes, he could see the fear with-in, but there was something else, it was determination. Juliet looked down a few times and raised her hands near the persons arm. Finally Steve got what Juliet was doing and he nodded his head in understanding.

"Don't worry, O'Hara; we will have you out of this soon."

"What makes you think I'm going to let her go? Now! I want the file, give it to me and I might let your friend here go unharmed, otherwise…"

"Otherwise what…you'll kill her like you did the person in the bedroom?"

"What do you mean? Who's dead?"

The person sounded really confused at the information about the body in the bedroom. As they moved Juliet around so they could have a look, they had also relaxed their grip on the knife and on Juliet as well.

"Oh! My! God," the person said as the bloody leg came into sight.

It was the clue Juliet was waiting for. She grabbed at the arm with the knife and pushed it away from her. At the same time, Steve rushed in and tackled them. Just as Steve slapped his handcuffs onto the masked person, the backup he had called, arrived.

Steve let them take over with the intruder as he checked on Juliet. There was a cut on her neck where the knife had been and, although it had stopped bleeding, Steve was sure that if Juliet moved her head in anyway, it would start up again.

But Juliet wasn't worried about a small cut on her neck. She was more concerned with what that said person could tell her about the shooting of her partner and friend Carlton Lassiter. Standing up, Juliet made her way toward the still masked person that had only moments before was holding a knife at her neck. Steve just walked beside her.

"What file were you after?" Juliet said as she pulled the mask off.

Both Juliet and Steve stared at the man standing before them. A smirk appeared on Juliet's face as she gave him the once over. Whereas Steve just stood there in shock, for there before them was none other than Kevin Lake and he looked pissed.

"I believe Detective O'Hara just asked you a question, Kevin." Steve said angrily at being made a fool of.

"It's a file that Shawn was bringing down with him for me. It contains valuable information on a case I'm working on."

"What case and how did you get in here?"

"I can't tell you the case, I just can't, but as for getting in here, Shawn gave me the key card."

"Shawn wouldn't do that," Juliet said as she stared him down.

"Look…in my top pocket is the key card Shawn gave me, along with the instructions as to where I could find the file."

Steve reached into Kevin's top pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and a key card that was just like the one Shawn had given them and upon reading what was on the paper, Juliet confirmed that it was written by Shawn and it did seem that Kevin was telling the truth.

"Why break in here, when you knew that we were here?" Juliet asked.

"I didn't know you were coming here. I just thought you were checking out BBQ Bob's. I did come here last night when I said I was, but the file was already gone."

"Did you do this?" Steve said as he indicated the wrecked room.

"No, it was like this when I got here last night, except for the body, of course."

"Are you sure?" Juliet asked. "You seem handy with a knife."

"I'm not a killer, I just…I really need to put this person behind bars and that file will do it. But it's not beneath him to kill or to hire someone to kill for him."

"Ok, we can question Kevin down at the station later. Take him to the station and book him for the assault of Detective O'Hara."

Juliet and Steve watched as the officers led Kevin out of the room, passing Dr. Bentley as she walked in.

"Hi Steve, what do you have for me?"

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	11. The Body and More Questions

**Chapter 11:**** The Body and More Questions**

"Hi, Amanda, I have a body for you," Steve said as he pointed towards the bedroom.

"You know, Steve, I did guess that and…oh, what happened to you, Detective O'Hara?" Amanda said when she saw Juliet's neck.

Juliet reached up and touched the cut. "One of our suspects decided that a knife to my neck would help him get away."

"Ok, well…I'll have a look at that first; after all, the body isn't going anywhere." After Amanda had cleaned up the cut and made sure it wasn't too deep, she covered it and then let Steve lead her to the body. As Amanda put on her gloves, she looked around the body to make sure she wasn't going to interfere with any evidence that could still be there.

Sure that the area was clear, Amanda slowly started to remove the sheets and clothing that covered the body, carefully placing them in to an evidence bag since it was all covered in blood.

Finally, she had removed everything to reveal a woman, most likely in her early thirties. She had red hair that was now soaked in her own blood and a knife was sticking out of her head.

"Is that what killed her?"

"Most likely, Steve, but you know I would rather wait until I do the autopsy before I answer that question. She also has marks around her neck…" Amanda said as she lifted up the head to show Steve and Juliet what she meant. "She could have been strangled first and then stabbed."

"Seems like a bit of an over kill, don't you think?" Juliet asked.

"Just a little bit, but if she fought back, then…arr…"

"What did you find?"

"Overkill, might be an understatement."

"What do you mean?" Juliet asked as she leaned in to see what Amanda had found.

"It looks like she was stabbed repeatedly. Before you say it, Steve, I really do need to get her back to the morgue."

"Do you have any idea of the time of death?" The question earned Juliet an annoyed look from Amanda and a smile from Steve.

Amanda let out a small sigh of frustration. She wondered if Detective O'Hara's Medical Examiner got these silly questions all the time. How many times does she need to tell them she can't give that type of information just off the top of her head?

"Well, if I have to make a guess…and you can ask Steve, I don't like doing this, but rigor mortis hasn't set in yet, so…no more than two, maybe three hours."

"Come on, Amanda, you know you love trying to make those types of guesses," Steve laughed.

"Whatever, Steve, well, I don't see anything else I can tell you, except that it looks like this was where she was killed."

"Is there any ID on her?" Steve said as he watched Amanda run her hands over the body.

"Not on her, but she does have a nice tattoo on her thigh. It might get you an ID."

"Her name is…Kate Mitcham."

"How do you know that, oh…?" Steve said as he turns to face Juliet, who looking around the room again. "You've found her purse."

"Yes, I did and she is a reporter," Juliet said as she held up her Press ID.

Both Amanda and Steve had a closer look at it.

"Well, it certainly looks like our body over there."

"Detective O'Hara, I know you won't like this, but…"

"But we need to talk to Shawn."

"Yes, we do."

"But before we talk to Shawn, we also need to confirm that the key card that your friend Kevin had was given to him by Shawn and not the back up one the manager should have and we still need to talk to Kevin himself," Juliet said giving Steve an angry glare.

"Ok, I stuffed up with Kevin, I admit it," Steve said holding his hands up. Looking over to Amanda he could see the confusion in her eyes. "Kevin is our first and only suspect so far, but if he is right and was here when he says he was, then he didn't kill her, and Kevin is the one who held the knife to Juliet's neck."

"Sounds like you two have really been having fun. Well, I need to get our lady friend back to the morgue."

"Ok, Amanda, oh…is Dad still at the hospital?"

"No, he took Henry and Gus to the beach house after Shawn had fallen asleep."

"Ok, no offence, O'Hara, but I think we will talk to Kevin later."

"What…why?"

"Because, I want to check with the manager on our way out and then I want to talk to Henry and Gus before we talk to Kevin and Shawn."

"Ok, but are you going to leave me in the dark about what you're looking for?"

"I'll explain on the way to the beach house."

"If you say so." Juliet then looked around the room again. "I won't be getting any clothes from here for Shawn. Gus will have to go and buy him some."

"Sorry about that, but he's about Jesse's size, so I will see if Jesse could loan him some in the meantime."

"Thanks for that, but do you really think Dr Travis will want to loan his clothes to Shawn?"

"We can only ask," Steve said smiling at Juliet.

"Well, I hope Jesse has a good night's sleep before you talk to him," Amanda said when she heard what Steve had offered.

"And why's that?"

"When was the last time you and Jesse talked, Steve?"

"Well…it's been a few days. We were supposed to catch up last night at Bob's, but…well we all know what happened."

"Jesse's been very, very moody lately. He even snapped off Mark's head today."

"I guess I better get around and have a talk to him as well. Do you just think its lack of sleep though?"

"I'm not sure, Jesse just seemed…distant, as if he has a lot on his mind, but he won't let Mark or me in and we're starting to get worried about him. I really hope that he will talk to you."

"Well, if he's still at the hospital when we go to talk to Shawn, I'll see if I can talk to him."

"Thanks. Well looks like my guest is on her way. I'll ring you with my findings as soon as I have something.

"Ok, see you later."

Steve and Juliet watched as Amanda followed the body out. Steve then turned to talk to Juliet.

"Are you ready to go?"

"You can lead the way," Juliet said holding out her hand indicating for Steve to go first.

On their way out, they stopped and talked to the manager. They found out that he still had the spare back-up key card and that both Shawn and Lassiter were given one, which gave Kevin's explanation as to how he got one ring true.

As Steve drove them to the beach house, he kept his promise and filled Juliet in on what he thought was going on.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	12. Jesse and Shawn have a Talk

**Chapter 12:**** Jesse and Shawn have a Talk**

Jesse walked quietly into the room where Lassiter and Shawn were, and even though Shawn wasn't his patient he still wanted to check on him. He looked over Shawn's medical record, which included the one Juliet had brought with her and he was truly surprised that Shawn was even able to walk, let alone be alive. After replacing the chart, Jesse then checked to see if Shawn was still asleep. Happy that he was, Jesse went over to Lassiter's bed.

He first checked the chart to see when the nurse was last in and then he checked the machines Lassiter was connected to. Happy with what he saw, Jesses filled in the chart and then placed it back into its holder.

As he let out a tired sigh, Jesse rechecked Lassiter's breathing tube again. He was tired, very tired and he didn't know why. He had worked long hours before, but this time it wasn't that type of tiredness he had. He was tired of the life he was living.

He didn't want to feel this way. He loved the life he was living. He loved being in charge of the ER and he loved the people that now made up what he called his family. Mark was like the father he once had before he left, and Amanda was the big sister that was always looking out for him; hell, he even thought of C.J. and Deon as his nephews.

He knew that Mark, Amanda and even Steve would accept him as he is; for what he is. They wouldn't judge him because he was gay, because he was in love with a man, but he couldn't say the same about the doctors, nurses and staff that he has to work with every day, let alone his patients.

No, in all of these respects he was happy and content. The problem Jesse had was with Steve and the fear that he would rejected him once he found out that Jesse was in love with him it.

Looking down at Lassiter, Jesse wondered how in the world Lassiter and Shawn had overcome that fear to finally admit to the other that they had feelings for them and which one had made the first move.

He once again looked over to where Shawn was sleeping and then back to Lassiter. These two men had been through so much just to be together and yet Shawn, who seems to be the one getting hurt the most, was still willing to stay by his husband's side. How can he, they, do that and still stay strong?

"So, Detective Lassiter, how do you two stay together when it seems so much is against you?"

"It's easy. It's called love."

Jesse wasn't expecting an answer, so when Shawn answered him, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, but I knew Lassie wouldn't be able to answer."

"It's ok; I just thought you were still asleep."

"I don't sleep much now days," Shawn offered as an explanation. "How is Lassie anyway?"

"He's doing well." Jesse picked up Shawn's chart again. "And maybe you don't sleep well normally, but Mark gave you a strong sedative and considering how much he gave you, you should still be out.

Jesse watched as the biggest smile he had ever seen appeared on Shawn's face. He was sure it took up nearly half his face, even though he knew that was impossible.

"When you've been hurt as much as I have, Dr. Travis, normal medication doesn't work as well as it should. So…what's with the question to Lassie?"

"I thought you were supposed to be a psychic."

"Ok, you want to test my POWER," Shawn said in a deep powerful voice.

Shawn then placed his right hand up to his temple and started to think. He was still feeling some of the effects from the sedative and was having trouble focusing both his eyes and his head, but he already knew what was going on. He had seen it all before with other people and he had seen how both Detective Sloan and Dr. Travis behaved around each other.

True, the first time he was in shock that Lassiter had just been shot and the second time he was watching, not just them, through a reflection as he sat beside Lassie. But he saw enough to know that the young doctor in front of him had it bad for one certain handsome detective. The main problem with the doctor was that he didn't know if Detective Sloan liked him back the same way.

"Ok, this is what I've got. You have been welcomed into the Sloan's life. They treat you as if you are just one of them. Mark treats you like a son. Dr Bentley treats you like a baby brother and Steve the same and you love them back just the same. Am I right so far?"

"Yes," Jesse said shocked at how spot on Shawn was.

"But your problem is…you like Steve more than a friend, more than a brother. You're in love with him and you're worried that if he finds out he will hate you."

"That's…that's amazing, how did you…"

"I'm psychic, remember. Now, what can I do to get a drink around here?"

"A drink? Oh, yes, a drink. Sorry, I will get the nurse to get you something."

"If possible could it be some pineapple juice?"

"I'll see, just give me a second." With that Jesse left the room.

Shawn walked over to the door and watched the stunned doctor walk away. Once Jesse was out of sight, he walked over to Lassiter's bed. Sitting down, he took Lassiter's hand and gently kissed it.

Jesse walked back in about five minutes later, a glass of something in his hand.

"Now, drink this slowly. Regardless of what you said, I think you are still feeling the effect of that sedative."

"You're right, I am." Shawn said before taking a slip of the liquid. Jesse watched as Shawn seemed to brighten up even more when he realised that it was indeed pineapple juice in the glass. "And for you your information, I made the first move."

"What?"

"That's one of the questions running through your mind, wasn't it, which one of us made the first move? Well it was me."

"How did you do it?"

"I just walked up to Lassiter in the station one day, but I did make sure he was by himself at the time, and I told him that I loved him and I wanted to know if he would marry me."

"No dates or anything?"

"Nope, I just asked him and at first he started to laugh, but when he realised that I was serious, he apologised and said that I haven't even asked him out on a date and yet, and here I was jumping straight in, asking him to marry me."

"Wow, that's amazing, it really is. Too bad it can't help me any."

"It could! Look, I've only seen you and the Detective together a few times, but I can tell you, the spirits are saying that you need to go for it and soon."

"Why soon?"

"A man like Detective Sloan won't wait around forever. You need to take that chance and just go for it."

"You think so?"

"I know so," Shawn said tapping his head and smiling. "And it has to be you, who makes the first move."

"Why me?"

"Because…your Steve is just like my Lassie, too much pride and not enough confidence to make that first move."

"Ok, I'll think about what you said, but right now I want you to try and get some sleep, please."

"I'll try, but as I said before, I don't sleep very well."

"At least lay down and I will be back in to check on you before I leave."

"Ok, you're the doctor after all."

Shawn made his way to his bed and took the last sip of his pineapple juice. Just after his head hit the pillow, he realised that Dr. Travis must have slipped something into his juice, but it was too late to fight it, as the drug took hold and pulled him into a light sleep.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	13. At the Beach House

**Chapter 13:**** At the Beach House**

Steve had just finished telling Juliet what he thought was going on when he pulled his truck up outside the beach house. Juliet could agree with some of Steve's theory that maybe, just maybe, Lassiter was shot because of the file that Kevin Lake was chasing.

But if it was Shawn who had it, why shoot Lassiter and not Shawn? Something with Steve's theory just didn't sit right with Juliet, but she just couldn't put her finger on why, so she stayed quiet, at least for the moment. The other thing she also knew that Steve was right about was that Shawn knows something that he hadn't told them.

"So…do you think we need to go through the files of the suspects we brought down with us or not?"

"Won't hurt if we do and we can do it here, that way your friends and my dad can help as well and we can get it over and done with quicker. Plus we can get a great cup of coffee and something to eat while we're doing it."

"That sounds great; I haven't eaten for a while."

"Just one thing, O'Hara."

"And what would that be, and please call me Juliet."

"What does Shawn's dad do for a living?"

"He was a sergeant on the job, before retiring. After an incident involving Shawn, Henry took up the job of dealing with the consultants for the station. I think he just did it so he could keep an eye on Shawn. Why?"

"I thought he had been on the job, I was just wondering that's all. Anyway, we better get in there before Dad comes out to get us, oh…and it's Steve by the way."

"Steve, is that you?"

Steve laughed. "Yeah, Dad, it's me and I have Detective O'Hara with me," He helped Juliet out of the truck and whispered, "See, I told you Dad would come looking for me."

When she walked in Juliet instantly got the feeling of being welcome and that this was a home, not just a house. It was open and welcoming, full of photos showing the lifetime of this family.

Sitting at the kitchen table was Henry and Gus who were having a coffee.

"Do you two want something to drink?" Mark's voice called out from the kitchen.

"We would love a coffee, Dad, and is there any of Bob's left over from last night?"

"Lots, we didn't get much time to eat. I'll heat it up. You all eat BBQ ribs don't you?" Mark asked as he stuck his head out.

He was greeted with a collection of yeses, so he returned to the kitchen to get the food ready.

"Dad, I'm going down to my room and get changed."

"Ok, everything will be ready when you come back up."

"Be back soon," Steve said as he disappeared down a set of stairs nearby.

Juliet just watched him go and then walked over to where Henry and Gus were sitting. As she sat down beside Gus, she brushed her hair back and that was when Henry and Gus saw the bandage on her neck.

"Jules, what happened?" Gus said as he stood up to get a closer look.

"Oh, this," Juliet said as she placed her hand on the spot. "Our suspect decided to hold me at knife point. He just cut me a little bit."

"Do you want me to have a look at it?" Mark offered as he placed some of the ribs onto the table.

"No it's fine, Dr….Bentley looked at it for me when she arrived at Shawn and Lassiter's room."

"Now…why would Amanda be there, unless…"

"Dad…" Steve said as he walked out of the door that led to his apartment. "Let's eat and then we will talk about what we found and what Amanda was doing there."

"In other words," Mark said to Henry and Gus, "this is how my son tells me that he wants to talk to you two before he gives us any information."

"Really, and what would you like to know?" Henry said leaning back in his chair and folding his arms.

Steve let out a little giggle and shook his head. "Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome," Mark replied "The coffee will be ready in a minute. How do you like your coffee, Detective O'Hara?"

"White with two sugars thank you, Dr. Sloan."

"Then you will get white with two, and please call me Mark, you make me feel so old by calling me Dr. Sloan."

"Ok, Mark and I'm Juliet. Do you need a hand?"

"No, I'm fine and I think you should stay there and help Steve out. By the look on Henry's face, he is about to kill Steve."

Juliet looked back at the two men. She couldn't help but smile at them.

"Ok, I'll stay here," Juliet said as she saw the fear in Gus' face.

"Look, Henry…Mr. Spencer, let's all have something to eat then I'll ask you my questions and fill you in on what I…" Steve looked over to Juliet for help. "We know. You already knew I would be making general inquires with you."

Steve watched as the frown on Henry's face changed to a smirk. Henry love to see that he could still make people worry, just by looking at them.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to bite your head off," Henry said still smiling; then his face changed back to the frown. "At least not right now. So, where are the ribs from?"

"BBQ Bobs, it's a small BBQ restaurant that Jesse and I own."

"Really, you own a BBQ restaurant?" Gus said surprised.

"Yes, and from what I hear, you have a side business too, Gus."

"True and I'm only doing Psych because of Shawn."

"Admit it, Gus, you love working with Shawn, plus you have too much invested in Psych to just walk away," Henry said.

"I know; I just sometimes wish that Shawn would be a little bit more careful, that's all."

Just then Mark returned with the coffees. As they ate, Henry and Gus wondered just what was found at Shawn and Lassiter's honeymoon suite.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	14. Questions and Answers

**Chapter 14:**** Questions and Answers**

After they all had their fill of ribs, they moved to the study with more coffee and all the files Juliet, Henry and Gus had brought with them. Once they were all settled, Steve started to ask Henry questions, hoping to get straight answers.

"Look, I am really sorry I need to ask these questions, but I do need a straight answer to them."

"Just ask your questions and we will see if you need to know the answer to it," Henry said as he stared at Steve.

"Very well, Mr. Spencer, firstly, Mr. Guster, was Shawn working on any cases that you know of, whether or not you were helping him with them?"

"Not that I know of, but Shawn did sometimes take on cases without telling me, why?"

Steve looked up from his note pad with his eyebrow raised, but decided against saying anything. Looking back down at his notebook, Steve decided to answer Gus' question with one of his own.

"Did you know that Shawn brought a file with him and that he was to hand it over to a lawyer here? Oh…" Steve said as he looked up, "that question was for either of you."

"No, Shawn wouldn't do something like that and as Gus said, Shawn wasn't working on anything."

"And neither was Lassiter, he had finalised all his cases too," Juliet added.

"Ok, so you don't have any idea what could have been in the missing file then?"

"If the file is missing, how do you know Shawn had a file to start with?" Henry asked.

"Because the suspect we have in custody was looking for it. But it looks like we will need to ask Shawn about it."

"How did he get in?" Henry asked in a very low voice.

"Who?"

"Your suspect. I take it he was the one that hurt Juliet. How did he get into Shawn's room? I booked that hotel because of its security."

"So you booked the hotel for them?"

"Yes, I did. It was my wedding present for Shawn and Lassiter."

"And when did they know when they were coming here."

"About a week ago, why?"

"Because, unless Shawn was planning to bring the file down here beforehand, it means that somewhere along the way he had gotten in contact with Kevin to make the drop."

"And again, it brings us back to my question about how this Kevin got into the room in the first place."

"Shawn gave him his key card along with direction as to where to find it."

"I can't believe Shawn would do that," Gus said more to himself then to the rest of the group.

"Just a minute," Juliet suddenly said. "Kevin did say that Shawn gave him directions to the file which should have been under the desk, right?"

"That's right, why?"

"Because when we had asked him about the woman's body he said he didn't know anything about it."

"Yes, he did say that, but he had no reason to go into the bedroom where her body was."

"True, yet he said that the suite was already tossed when he got there. Now I know Shawn and I know that wasn't his type of mess, but if Kevin had waited for them to leave and went straight up to get the file, who messed up the suite?"

"Good point and hopefully Kevin won't give us the run around when we interview him."

"So who was the girl and how did she die, Steve?" Mark asked.

He had been sitting back listening to what was being said, but now there was a body involved and it seemed there were two cases, maybe even three, and all involving one Shawn Spencer. Now, he was really interested in this patient and what is going on.

"She was a reporter for a magazine call 'The Metro' and her name is… Kate Mitcham."

"Kate…Kate Mitcham, I know that name…wait," Mark said as he got up and walked over to the desk. "Arr…here it is." Mark picked up a magazine and returned to his seat.

The others looked at the magazine that Mark had in his hand. It was called 'The Metro' and as everyone watched him, Mark then flipped through the pages, stopping at a certain article.

"Your dead reporter was the one that exposed Dr. Slain for the drug addict that he was," Mark said as he handed over the magazine to Steve.

"I remember this case. Dr. Slain was giving his patients plain lollies so he could feed his drug habit."

Steve then passed the magazine to Juliet and after she had read it, she then passed it to Henry and then it was given to Gus, who then passed it back to Mark.

"I remember this case as well, just after it was completed we, and I mean all pharmaceutical reps, were given a training day to teach us how to keep an eye out for doctors who might be abusing our sample packs."

"Shawn…what the hell have you got yourself into this time," Henry said a little louder than he meant to.

"So, Steve…you started out investigating the shooting of Detective Lassiter and now you have a murder and a missing file, which may or may not have something to do with the shooting and the only thing they really have in common is Henry's son.

"By the looks of it, Dad, but why did you say that they might not be linked together."

"Only the shooting might not fit in. I mean the chances of Kate Mitcham's murder being in the same room that Kevin was looking for a file in and them not being linked is very slim, but the actual shooting, now that could still be someone else."

"You're right, Dad, and I really do need to talk to Kevin, but I still have all of those files to go through."

"You go and deal with Kevin, we will do the files," Henry said.

"Are you…"

"Sure? Yes I'm sure. Your Dad has explained that he is a consultant for the police, so is Gus and I am employed to handle consultants. So we should be able to handle it."

"Before you go, Steve, do you know how Kate Mitcham died?"

"Not yet…" Just then Steve's phone rang. "It's the Chief," Steve said before heading off to answer the call. When he returned, he had a frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" Juliet asked.

"The ambulance that was transporting Kate Mitcham's body never made it to Community General."

"But that means…the body, the driver and Amanda are all missing."

"Yes. Come on, Juliet, we really do need to talk to Kevin and talk to him now."

With that Juliet and Steve were out of the house and down the driveway in no time. Mark, Henry and Gus just shook their heads and started going through the files. Mark fought the urge to ring Jesse and tell him what had happened.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	15. Kevin

**Chapter 15:**** Kevin**

Kevin Lake was nervous; he had been taken from his holding cell about an hour ago and put into an interview room. On the way there he had overheard some officers talking amongst themselves that Detective Sloan was on his way in and he wasn't in a good mood, so when the door to the room opened, Kevin couldn't help but jump a little.

Steve and Juliet both saw Kevin jump and knew that Steve's plan had worked. Kevin was on edge and hopefully, he would open up a lot easier than he did before.

"Kevin," Steve said in a firm and somewhat irritated voice.

Juliet and Steve sat down on the chairs across from Kevin and Juliet then placed the file she was carrying onto the table.

"Kevin, you know you were arrested for the assault on Detective O'Hara."

"Yes."

"And you know that I really can't do anything about the breaking and entering because Shawn Spencer gave you the key card to the room."

"At least for now; we still need to confirm that Shawn gave it to you," Juliet added.

Steve and Juliet watched as Kevin swallowed hard at this and seemed even more nervous than before.

"Is there a problem with us asking Shawn about the key card?" Steve asked as the feeling that neither Kevin nor Shawn was going to give anything up about the file.

"No," Kevin said shaking his head. "Not at all, it's…it's just that I know Shawn and he might not be that straight forwarded about the file or the key card."

"Well then," Juliet said leaning a little forward. "Why don't you tell us about the file?"

"I…" Kevin looked back and forth between the two detectives in front of him. "I can't, I just can't tell you anything about it."

"Why not?" Steve said as he slammed his hands on the table between them.

Steve was really starting to get angry at all of this run around. Normally, it wouldn't bother him, but this time it was someone he knew that was playing him for a fool.

Kevin jumped when Steve slammed his hand down. He had heard rumours that Detective Sloan had a temper. It wasn't seen very often, but when it was, may god help whoever it was aimed at, and right now it was aimed at him.

"I can't, I can't tell you anything about it, because…I, I don't know what's in it."

"What? You said that Shawn was bringing it to you for a case you're working on," Juliet said when she saw that Steve was just leaning back in his chair staring at Kevin.

"I know what I said, but please, I can't say anything else. Not to you, not about the file. If I did, I'd be dead before I got back to my holding cell."

Both Steve and Juliet could see the fear in Kevin's eyes and wondered what the hell could be in that file that could make him so scared. For Juliet, she was also wondering what the hell Shawn had gotten himself involved in.

"Ok, we'll leave the file alone for now," Steve said worried that Kevin would have a heart attack if they kept going, but he was more worried that Kevin thinks that someone in the station would kill him for talking. "Do you know a Kate Mitcham?"

"No, who's Kate Mitcham?"

"She a reporter for the magazine 'The Metro' and she was our dead body." Juliet took out some of the crime scene photos and put them in front of Kevin.

"So this was the person who was murdered."

"Yes," Steve answered. "You said that the place was already tossed when you first went in to get the file."

"Yes, it was."

"So how long after Shawn and Lassiter left the hotel did you go in?"

"I waited maybe five, ten minutes. As I said, I know Shawn and I was expecting him to come back for something."

"So you're telling us that in the, say, fifteen minutes that it took them to leave their room and for you to wait and see if Shawn would return, someone else somehow broke into their room and tossed it, found the file and left before you got there."

"I know it sounds weird, but it is the truth."

"Did you go into the bedroom?" Steve asked.

"Not as in I walked in there and walked around, but I did look in there from the doorway and I definitely didn't see any dead body there."

"We think she was killed somewhere around five this morning."

"Well, I was in my bed with my wife at that time."

"So you really don't know Kate Mitcham?" Steve asked, he was really starting to get this feeling that they were getting nowhere.

"Sorry, Steve, but no I…" Kevin was looking again at the photos as he was speaking, then one really caught his attention.

Juliet had never before seen someone's expression change so quickly, but the terror on Kevin's face was real. At first Juliet thought he was going to attack them with the way he got up and knocked over his chair, but instead he had backed away into the furthest corner and crouched down. Kevin didn't make a sound, he couldn't, for some reason his mind had closed down.

"What was all that about," Juliet asked as she kneeled down to check on Kevin.

"I don't know," Steve answered as he picked up the photos.

The photos were all they had since the ambulance that was carrying Kate's body and Amanda was still missing. As he sifted through them Steve came across a photo that had him very worried. Looking back at Juliet and sure she wasn't looking, Steve took the said photo, folded it and put it into his pocket.

"Did you find anything?" Juliet asked as other officers took over looking after Kevin.

"No, I can't see anything that would cause that type of reaction," Steve said as he tried to avoid looking at her.

After they had loaded Kevin onto a gurney and just before they wheeled him out, Steve walked up to him. Juliet watched as Steve, whose mood had changed for some reason, looked Kevin over. Steve then unbuttoned Kevin's shirt and pulled it off his right shoulder.

Juliet moved in closer to see what Steve was looking at. There on Kevin's back, over the top of his right shoulder was a tattoo of a black panther. Looking up at Steve, she could see fear growing in his eyes. Steve looked at her, swallowed and let out a sigh. Somehow he had managed to push the fear back down and was now heading out of the room.

As Juliet followed, a thought came to her. Shawn had the same tattoo in the same spot. Was the tattoo linked to the case, and if it was, what did it mean?

"Where are we going now?"

"We need to speak to your friend Shawn."

"Fine, but just one thing."

"What's that?"

"I'm sure Shawn has the same tattoo as Kevin has."

Steve just stopped and stared at her, the fear he had managed to push down, once again threatened to overwhelm him again. Shaking his head, Steve just stormed off towards the parking lot.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	16. Shawn is no Help

**Chapter 16:**** Shawn is no Help**

Juliet found it hard to keep up with Steve as they walked down the halls of Community General. Nurses and Doctors who stopped to say hi, quickly moved out of his way and then stood there whispering.

As soon as they walked into the doctor's lounge Juliet saw who Steve was looking for.

"Jesse," Steve said with a little bite to his voice.

Jesse, who had been lost in his own little world thinking about what Shawn had said to him, jumped when Steve said his name.

"Steve and…Juliet, right?"

"That's right, Jesse."

"Steve, what's up?" Jesse asked when he realised that Steve seemed to be in a bad mood.

"I need to talk to Shawn Spencer."

"Ok, you want me to be there?"

"Yes, please and Jesse…when this is finished, I want to talk to you, ok?"

"Sure. Follow me."

As Jesse led Steve and Juliet to Lassiter's room, he hope that the anger Steve is showing isn't aimed at him. Jesse stopped just outside the room and turned to face Steve.

"I've given him a sedative so he might not be very alert."

"I understand." Some of Steve's anger was now gone, but the fear of what that photo might mean, was still running around his head.

They walked into the room and to Jesse's surprise Shawn was sitting on a chair next to Lassiter's bed. Jesse checked his watch; there is no way that Shawn should be awake.

"Shawn…what are you doing?"

"I'm keeping an eye on Lassie. What does it look like?"

"But…you shouldn't…"

"I told you sedatives don't work on me."

"That just isn't possible," Jesse said to himself as he shook his head.

"I also don't appreciate the fact that you doped my pineapple juice either." Shawn then turned to face the three standing in the doorway. "And what can I do for you, Detective Sloan?"

"I have a few questions for you."

Shawn just nodded his head and watched as they moved further into the room. Jesse went to check on Lassiter, while Juliet and Steve grabbed a chair each and sat near Shawn.

"Well, then?" Shawn said as he tried to work out why Steve seemed to have fear in his eyes. He also saw the bandage on Juliet's neck. "What happened to your neck, Jules?"

"I'll tell you later," Juliet answered as she gave Steve a sidewards glance.

It didn't take Shawn long to work out someone had held a knife to her neck, which had resulted in her being cut.

"Did Kevin do it?"

The surprised look on their faces told Shawn what he wanted to know. It means he didn't get the file, which means they are both in deep trouble.

"Yes, Kevin did it. Now, Shawn…" Steve said, a little shaken at how in tuned Shawn was with what was going on. "We already know that you know Kevin, but do you know a woman by the name of Kate Mitcham?"

"Yes, I know her. She's a reporter for 'The Metro', why?"

"She was found dead in your hotel room this morning."

Steve and Juliet watched as he lowered his head as if he was thinking.

"When was she murdered?"

"We think about five this morning."

"Do you know how?"

"It looks like she was strangled and stabbed, then the knife was left in her head."

"Damn it, what was she doing there?" Shawn whispered to himself.

"Kevin said he didn't know her and that you gave him the key card to your room so he could go in and get a file. Is that true?" Steve stared at Shawn as he waited for the answer.

"I'm not surprised that Kevin didn't know Kate, they didn't exactly move in the same circles, if you know what I mean. As for a file…" Shawn said shaking his head. "I don't know anything about any file. Are you sure Kevin meant me?"

"Yes, I do. He showed us they key card and the note that told him where to find the file."

"Not from me he didn't. I was here for my honeymoon and I didn't even know Kevin was here. I thought he was still Chicago."

Juliet pulled out three evidence bags; two had a key card and the other the note. She handed them to Shawn, who looked them over.

"I didn't write the note and if I was going to hand over a secret file, I wouldn't tape it under a desk for starters. As for the key cards, I don't know where he got them from."

"This one we got from Kevin and this one you gave us. So, if you didn't give this key card to Kevin, where did he get it and where is the other one the hotel gave you?"

"Here is mine," Shawn said as he pulled out a key card from his pocket and handed it to Juliet. And as for where Kevin got that one from, I don't know, maybe he got his hand onto the spare one the hotel keeps."

"He didn't, we've already checked, they still have the spare one. "Shawn…please, if you have any information on this file, especially if it has something to do with what happened to Carlton…"

"It doesn't, Jules."

"So there is a file?" Juliet said shocked that Shawn had just been denying one existed.

"No, Juliet there isn't a file." Shawn snapped at her. When he saw the hurt in Juliet's eyes he added. "Sorry, it's the sedatives I've been given." He then gave her a weak smile.

"Can you stand up, turn around and take off your shirt, please?" Steve asked.

Shawn stood up and did what he is told and just like Juliet said, on Shawn's right shoulder blade was a tattoo of a black panther.

"Thank you, you can put your shirt back on. Did you know that Kevin and Kate had the same tattoo and in the same place?" Steve asked.

Shawn sat back down and just stared at Steve. He could see that the fear in Steve's eyes had increased, but this at least now told him why the fear was there in the first place.

"Kevin has the same tattoo, not Kate."

"She does have the same tattoo." Steve took out the photo he had taken from the interrogation room and showed it to Shawn.

"No, she has a tattoo, not the same one. Trust me. You will see that when you examine her body."

"We can't examine her body. The ambulance that was transporting her body, along with a good friend of mine, Dr. Amanda Bentley, has gone missing."

"Amanda's missing?" Jesse asked shocked at the fact no one had told him.

"Yes, Jesse, she is. Sorry, I thought Dad would have called you."

"No, he didn't."

"Ok, tell me if, and I do mean if, this file did exists, could it have anything to do with the shooting of your husband or the murder of your friend Kate?"

"If, as you say, the file did exist, NO, there is no way it had anything to do with this. It couldn't have."

"I'll let you get back to your husband for now, but I will be back later. I will also tell you, Shawn, that if anything happens to Amanda and I find out you do know something, I will be coming after you."

"I know nothing about any file or what has happened to your friend, and if I did, you can't touch me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, just…there is no file, so I have nothing to worry about."

Shawn then gave Steve a small smile, before turning back around to hold Lassiter's hand.

Steve, Juliet and Jesse just looked at him and then left the room.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	17. What Happened to Amanda?

**Chapter 17:**** What Happened to Amanda?**

Amanda stood to one side as she watched Kate Mitcham's body being loaded into the ambulance. Amanda had seen a lot in her life time, but the brutality of this one had gotten her.

After the body was loaded, Amanda climbed into the front seat with the driver and they were on their way. While they travelled, Amanda tried to work out if she would need to call the babysitter and see if she could stay a little longer, or see if Mark could take the boys until she finished.

Deciding on Mark, Amanda took out her phone, but before she could hit the call button for Mark the driver reached over and grabbed the phone from her. Shocked, she turned around to ask him what in the world did he think he was doing, but instead she saw his fist heading straight for her.

There was nothing Amanda could do and before she knew it, his fist had collided with her chin. Only two thoughts entered her mind as she lost consciousness, her kids and what was the hell going on.

When Amanda came too, she was tied to a chair in a poorly lit room. Nearby, lying on what looked like the morgue tables in her lab, was the body of Kate Mitcham. It was set out as if it was ready for an autopsy to be done.

Standing off to one side were two men. One looked like the driver that had hit her, but he was now dressed in blue denim jeans and a blue singlet. The other man looked like he was a businessman as he was dressed in a suit and tie.

As a wave of pain moved through her jaw, Amanda let out groan, which alerted the men that she was awake. As they walked over to her, Amanda could hear them talking.

"At least you didn't kill her," Suit said.

"Come on, I didn't hit her that hard. Anyway, she was going to make a call and I couldn't let her do that, now could I?"

"Whatever…Dr. Bentley, how do you feel?"

"Like someone hit me."

"Fair enough and sorry about that." Amanda watched as suit gave singlet an angry look, before looking back at her. "I need to teach my friend here how to treat a woman a bit better."

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"Well, Skirt here was only supposed to have brought the body, but he panicked when he saw you were going to make a call."

"I was only going to call my friend Mark to see if he could pick up my boys from the babysitter and keep them until I had finished with the autopsy."

"Oh…sorry about that."

"Anyway, Dr. Bentley, since we have you here, would you mind doing the autopsy for us?"

"And exactly who are you?"

"Sorry, can't tell you that, it comes under the need-to-know clause of the government. So will you do it for us?"

Amanda thought about it few a few minutes. If it meant that she would be untied, she was willing to do it.

"I'll need…"

"We have everything you will need right there," Suit said pointing towards the table. "And Skirt here, can help you."

"Thanks," mumbled Skirt.

"Ok, what do you want to know?"

"Well, what we really need to know is, one, how she died and two, anything that could tell us who killed her."

"You know I could have done that at Community General Hospital."

"True, but we need to contain who knows what. You will have to sign a non-disclosure form before you start as well."

"Fine," Amanda said as they untied her hands and feet. "Could I get some pain killers please, my head is really killing me."

"Sure, Skirt, why don't you give the good doctor a hand to set up, while I go and get her some pain killers?"

"Alright." Skirt and Amanda made their way over to the table as Suit headed out through the nearby door. Amanda could hear the door lock behind her. "Dr. Bentley, I'm…I am sorry for hitting you."

"Thank you, Skirt, let's just get this done so I can get back to my boys."

"Sure," Skirt said as he turned around to grab the movable table that had all the equipment.

Amanda watched him few a moments, before noticing something. He had a tattoo of a black panther on his right shoulder blade. She had seen this tattoo somewhere else and as she looked back to the body it come to her. Kate had a similar tattoo on her right shoulder as well. Suddenly, dread filled Amanda as she remembered where else she had seen the tattoo. It was on the shoulder of her friend, Steve.

'_Did Steve have something to do with this young lady's death? Did he have something to do with her being taken as well? No,'_ Amanda shook her head trying to clear it from the thoughts that was running around, _'No, Steve wouldn't do that to her, he wasn't like these people.'_

"Are you alright, Dr. Bentley?" Skirt asked when he saw her looking at the body.

"What…oh yes, sorry about that. How much medical training do you have?"

"I'm on my last year of medical school, majoring in pathology."

"Ok, you have a lot of training."

Just then Suit returned with a glass of milk, some pain killers and the disclosure form. After Amanda had taken the pain killers and signed the form, she got ready to do the autopsy.

"Now, do I take pictures and record what I find, or do I try and write it down as I go?"

"You can record it and do a full report just like you normally would. But your findings will depend on whether or not it will be destroyed."

"Great," Amanda said as she took the tape recorder. "Well let's start."

"What do we do first?" Skirt asked.

"Well, do you want to take that syringe and get a blood sample for me?"

"How much do you want?"

"The whole syringe, if you can."

"Ok," Skirt said as he took the syringe and started to take the sample.

Amanda then started to talk into the recorder.

"This is the autopsy of Ms Kate Mitcham. She seems to be about thirty five years of age and estimated time of death was around five am this morning. At first look I can see that she had bruising around the throat that looks like finger prints. Skirt, can you take a photo of her neck for me. She also has a knife protruding out of the top of her head. Wait…what is this…"

"What have you found, Dr. Bentley?"

"I'm not too sure, but…"

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	18. Steve and Jesse have a Private Talk

**Chapter 18:**** Steve and Jesse have a Private Talk**

Jesse, Steve and Juliet walked back to the doctor's lounge. Even though Shawn hadn't really given them much to go on, they still needed to go over what they did have and the thought of doing it over a cup of coffee was just what they needed.

After they had finished going over what they needed to, Jesse started asking his own questions about Amanda.

"So what actually happened to Amanda?"

"Jesse…we don't know, ok. We," Steve said looking at Juliet "saw Amanda get into the ambulance and it left. Then, just before we left Dad's I got the call from Chief Masters that the ambulance, Amanda and the body never turned up here."

"And someone is out there looking for her right?"

"Of course there is," Steve snapped at his friend.

Steve had felt insulted that Jesse even felt like he had to ask that question. But once he saw Jesse's face fall, Amanda's words seemed to fill his ears.

'_Jesse's been very, very moody lately. He even snapped off Mark's head today. I'm not sure Steve, Jesse just seemed…distant, as if he has a lot on his mind, but he won't let Mark or me in and we're starting to get worried about him. I really hope that he will talk to you.'_

"Juliet, you don't mind if I talk to Jesse in private for a minute, do you?"

Juliet remembered that Steve had promised Amanda that he would talk to the young doctor when he saw him next, so she had no problems with that.

"Not at all, do you want me to…"

"No, you wait here; Jesse and I will go to another room. If anyone asks you what you are doing here, just telling them you're waiting for me."

"Ok, I will. Umm…Jesse, is it ok if I make a phone call?" Juliet asked holding up her mobile phone.

"Sure, it's fine." Jesse said as he smiled at her.

"Who are you calling?" Steve asked as he knew it wouldn't be too long before they would be back at the beach house.

"Just calling my Chief, I told her I would keep her in the know."

"Ok, see you in a minute."

Steve followed Jesse to a nearby room that was empty. He was worried that something was upsetting his young friend enough that he was pushing away those that loved him. But for Steve, that was his problem and why he was keeping his distance from Jesse. He loved him too much.

Steve had long ago accepted that he was gay and although he had never told his dad, or anyone really, he never did hide it. If someone asked him if he was gay, he would say yes, but he didn't see why he needed to announce it. So he just went about his life, happy and content. That was, until Jesse Travis walked into it.

He had fallen for Jesse the moment he had seen him and out of fear of losing him, Steve had kept his mouth closed, but lately it had been getting harder for him, so staying out of Jesse's way just seemed to be the answer.

Once they were inside the room, Jesse closed the door to give them some privacy. He was nervous; firstly it was because Steve seemed to be angry with him. Secondly, Steve wanted to talk and thirdly, it was because he had time to think about what Shawn had said and he had decided that Shawn was right. If Jesse wanted Steve to know how he felt, he would need to make the first move.

Turning to face Steve, Jesse noticed that Steve was staring straight at him and he couldn't help but fall even harder for his friend.

"What…what do you want to talk about, Steve?"

"When I saw Amanda earlier, she said that you seemed…moody. That you wouldn't talk to her or Dad and in fact that you snapped at Dad as well. What's wrong, Jesse?"

"What wrong! You have some nerve, Steve Sloan. How dare you come around here and ask me that when you have been the one avoiding me for the last few weeks."

"I didn't know what to say to you. I didn't mean to stay away, it just seemed…easier."

"What do you mean by that, easier, easier than what?" Jesse was confused by Steve's words.

But when he finally looked Steve in the eyes, he saw the hurt and pain in them. He also saw something else. Swallowing, Jesse walked over to Steve, it was now or never. Taking Steve's face in his hands, Jesse slowly and gentle brought their lips together.

The kiss was slow and one sided at first, but as Steve's mind finally caught up to what was happening, he pulled Jesse closer to him and intensified the kiss. It only lasted a few more moments before they broke apart, as they both needed air.

Steve and Jesse stood there for what felt like the longest minute of their lives. So many thoughts were running through their heads, they had hardly any time to process it all.

"Jesse..."

"Yes?"

"Were you in a bad mood because I was staying away from you?"

"Yes, I thought you hated me for some reason. That I had done something wrong and you didn't want to be near me anymore."

"It wasn't anything you had done, I was just hurting so much being so close to you, yet you were so far away from me. I love you and it broke my heart every time I saw you with someone."

"I felt the same way about you. What do we do now?"

"I think we need to kiss again and then, once I have finished with this case, we need to have a talk about what we want from each other."

"Sounds like a plan," Jesse said looking once again in Steve's eyes.

They shared one more kiss before leaving the room and heading back towards the doctor's lounge and Juliet.

"Steve?"

"Yes, Jesse?"

"That tattoo that Shawn has, isn't it the same one you have on your right shoulder?"

"Yes, it is and Jesse, don't, just don't ask about it, please."

Jesse looked at Steve's face and he could see fear in it.

"Ok, I won't ask about it if it is going to cause trouble."

"Thank you, look…can you look after Juliet for me for a few minutes. I really need to talk to Shawn by himself."

"Sure I can, I'll just tell her you are talking to your chief."

"Thank you," and with that Steve headed off towards Lassiter and Shawn's room. He was determined to find out about the file, one way or another.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	19. Steve and Shawn Talk

**Chapter 19:**** Steve and Shawn Talk**

Steve walked down the hall towards the room where Shawn was still sitting beside his husband. At first Steve had been walking fast, but the closer he got, the more the fear in his heart gripped him.

Normally Steve wasn't scared about much. He was scared that one day his dad wouldn't be there and he was scared of losing his dad's love and respect when he found out that he was gay. But now…now that he knew Jesse felt the same way he did, Steve felt that even if he did lose his dad, he would still be able to go on.

But the fear he had now, right now, overpowered every other feeling he had and he prayed that he was wrong about it. He paused just outside the door to Lassiter's room. Steve didn't just want to go in and ask outright the question he so desperately wanted to ask. No, he needed to think about how he was going to do this. If he worded it wrong, no matter what his Dad and Jesse would never find where his body was buried.

Steve was just about to knock on the door when it opened. Shawn stood there staring at him. Staring at his face and staring him straight in the eyes. Before Steve realised what he was doing, his left arm had already moved across his chest so that his hand rested on his right shoulder, his hand in the shape of a gun. Without breaking eye contact Shawn had also made the same salute.

Nodding, Shawn stepped aside and Steve walked in. Steve's fear had stopped rising; it had no need to rise anymore. What Steve was afraid of he wasn't sure but now…now he knew that his past had caught up with him and he just prayed that it was going to go straight past and keep on going.

"So you belong to the Black Panther Regiment, too?" Shawn asked raising his eyebrow.

Steve pulled up his shirt to expose his tattoo. "Yes."

Shawn gave the tattoo a good once over, before nodding to Steve that he could cover up. The tattoo itself looked like a normal tattoo of a black panther, but in reality, there were things put into it that couldn't be copied and unless you knew what you were looking for, you wouldn't see them.

"What can I do for you then, Detective Sloan?"

"I want to know about the file?"

"I told you, there is no file."

"Look, I have a very close friend missing and…"

"And you want to know if the 'B.P.R.' is involved?"

"Yes and I want to know if I have anything to worry about,"

Steve figured that if he wanted Shawn to be honest with him, he should return the favour.

"As far as I know, the 'B.P.R.' has nothing to do with the shooting of Lassie, the murder of Kate or the disappearance of your friend, but I can make a call for you."

"I would like that," Steve said feeling guilty that he could even think that 'they' could be involved in something like this.

Steve watched as Shawn took out his phone and pulled it apart to change the sim card. As Shawn put the phone back together, he looked back at Steve.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why do you think you have something to worry about?"

"I, I don't know. I guess it's just what's involved with the 'B.P.R.', I thought that…"

"You had done something wrong for them to be here?"

"Yes, wouldn't you have thought the same?"

"No, I have no reason to be worried about them. I do as I'm told and I don't ask questions."

"So do I, but it still wouldn't stop them if they think you had done something wrong."

Shawn's phone suddenly made a sound to let them know that it was turned back on. He then hit the call button as there was only one number stored on the sim. Shawn kept his eye on Steve as he listened to the ring tone.

"Hello, this is Blind Eye."

"_"

"Yes, I have, but that isn't what I'm calling about."

"_"

"Yes, I have another Black Panther here with me and he is wandering if the B.P.R. had anything to do with the disappearance of a Dr. Bentley?"

"I'll ask, just a second," Shawn put the phone down and narrowed his eyes. "They want your code name."

"I'm Top Shot," Steve said without blinking his eyes.

Shawn just nodded his head and returned the phone to his ear.

"It's Top Shot."

"_"

"Yes, that's her. Ok, I'll let him know, thank you."

With that Shawn hung up, disassembled his phone again and swapped the sim card back. After he had hidden the second one, he looked back up at Steve.

"Yes, the 'B.P.R.' does have Dr. Bentley and the body of Kate, but they had nothing to do with her murder or with Lassie's shooting, just as I thought."

"Is Amanda…?"

"She's fine; they're using her to do the autopsy on Kate. As soon as Amanda has finished she will be brought back to Community General. As for Kate's body, that will depend on the findings."

"So I take it that Amanda signed a non-disclosure form."

"I guess so. Detective Sloan…"

"Steve, please."

"Steve, you have nothing to fear from the 'B.P.R.'. Hell, you are the one everyone talks about."

"I am, but…"

"I know the 'B.P.R.' hasn't used you in a long time, but you are still the one."

"Nice to know that I'm still appreciated, even if I'm just waiting for the call to…"

"Destroy your life?"

"Yes," Steve looked at this strange man before him, how, how in the world did he know what he was thinking.

"Trust me; you will not get that call unless something really bad happens. Now, if you don't mind?" Shawn said looking back at Lassie."

"I might still need to talk to you, but I think I will do it later. Right now, I think I need to get home and get some sleep. And for Dad's and Amanda's sake, I better try and get Jesse to go home as well."

And just like on cue, Jesse and Juliet walked in.

"Sorry, Steve, but I really need to get home and get some sleep."

"No worries, little buddy, I was just about to come and see you."

"About what?"

"About you going home and getting some sleep, believe it or not."

"Well, you don't need to anymore. I'm just checking up on Detective Lassiter and then I will be gone."

"So, Juliet, are you ready to go home and get some sleep."

"Yes, I am." She put a hand gently on Shawn's shoulder. "Shawn…"

"I'm fine. You go and I will be here when you get back. Goodnight."

Steve and Juliet watched as Jesse and Shawn walked over to Lassiter's bed. They then headed out.

"What were you talking to Shawn about?"

"Let's just say that we don't need to look for any file or for Amanda at the moment."

"Why not?"

"Sorry, I can't say."

And with that Steve climbed into his truck and Juliet followed suit. The drive back to the beach house was filled with an uncomfortable silence and tension that a knife couldn't cut.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	20. What Amanda Found

**Chapter 20:**** What Amanda Found**

"What have you found, Dr. Bentley?" Suits said leaning in to see what was going on.

"If this was blood, it would have dried by now, but it is still wet and sticky."

"Then what is it?" Skirt asked.

"Not sure, but if I have to guess…I'd say it was corn syrup with red food colouring."

"As in…fake blood?" Suits inquired.

"I think so, but I will have to send it off or won't that be happening?"

"We have a lab at our disposable, so yes, what you find will be processed."

"Good, Skirt…could you pass me that comb, please."

"Sure, but what do you use a comb for?"

"Well…we comb it through the hair to get any small particles that could be lost when we wash down the body."

Skirt nodded in understanding as he stood there watching with fascination as Amanda combed out the hair around the wound. As Amanda slowly combed through, she started to think that she will have to wash the hair through a sieve, to do this task. Then as she got closer to the knife, something caught her eye.

"Now…what do we have here?"

Amanda could feel the two men with her move. Except for Mark and Jesse, she had never known anyone to be so involved with an autopsy that she was doing. Amanda moved her hand to the knife and slowly pulled it up to reveal…that it was one of those fake knives from Halloween, the ones that are attached to a head band. Once Amanda had removed it and placed it in a nearby bowl, she had a closer look at the spot where it had been sitting.

"Now that is interesting."

"What?" Suits asked.

"She was never stabbed in the head."

"Then why…?"

"Skirt, can you give me a hand to undress Kate, please."

Skirt walked around the table so that he was on the opposite side of Amanda. Once Suits had stepped out of the way, Skirt moves closer and then he and Amanda removed Kate's clothing, which Amanda then placed into an evidence bag.

"What are you looking for?" Suits asked.

"I'm just checking something," Amanda replied as she checked Kate's stabbed wounds. "But by the look of it, she wasn't stabbed at all."

"What do you mean?" Skirt asked trying to see what Amanda was talking about.

"Well, these aren't real stabbed wounds," Amanda replied as she lifted up one of the wounds. "It seems like her wounds are made from rubber."

"Why in the world would someone do that?"

"That's easy, it's to cover up the cause her death and to trick us," Suits answered. "Dr. Bentley, what can you tell me about the tattoo on her shoulder?"

"Let me see, Skirt…please."

What…oh sorry, you want a hand to turn her over."

Skirt gave Amanda a hand to turn Kate's body and Amanda had a closer look at the tattoo. After a few moments, Amanda was ready to give her findings.

"The tattoo is just like the blood, head and stabbed wounds, it's fake."

"So she has nothing to do with us?" Suits whispered to himself, but both Amanda and Skirt heard him. "Skirt," Suits then said a bit more loudly, "can I talk to you please."

Amanda watched as the two men walked away. Shrugging, she just shook her head and continued her examination of Kate's body.

"There was bruising all over the body which indicates that there was a struggle. The marks around her neck and the blueness around the mouth show signs of strangulation. There seems to be at least ten stab wou…no, rubber stab wounds on the back, but I will have to check them all out, just to be sure. There seems to be a needle mark behind the ear and…"

Just then a noise beside Amanda made her look up. Standing there was Suits and he was holding out some sort of file. Just as Amanda reached out to take it, a hand which she guessed belonged to Skirt, wrapped around her head. A cloth was covering her mouth and nose and by the smell of it, the cloth had chloroform on it and in no time Amanda had blacked out.

When Amanda woke up, she found herself in her lab at Community General. Rubbing her eyes, Amanda looked around her lab as she tried to remember what had happened. Did she fall asleep at work? No, that doesn't seem right, maybe…just then her eyes fell onto the body of Kate Mitcham and then she remembered everything…the crime scene, the punch to the jaw, the autopsy and the two men. One she remembered nicknaming 'Suits', since that was what he was wearing and the other was called Skirt. She had worked out that Kate had been strangled and then her body had been made up to look like she had been stabbed.

Amanda walked over to the body to find it was reclothed and had a note attached to it. She picked up the note and read it.

"_Dr. Bentley, _

_We are sorry if we have inconvenienced you in anyway by borrowing you and your talents to give us some answers._

_I just wish you well and hope you will not hold it against us and to remind you about the non-discloser form you had signed. Please give us no reason to come and see you about it._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Skirt_

_P.S. Please destroy this letter once you have finished._

_P.S.S. You did such a wonderful job we may recruit your services again one day."_

Taking a deep breath, Amanda walked over to the shredder and put the letter in it. As she watched the letter disappear and come out the other side in small pieces, she thought to herself that hopefully they will just ask next time. Shaking her head, Amanda wondered what the hell was she was going to tell Mark, let alone Steve. Looking at her watch, she was shocked to see the time and hoped that her boys were ok.

After giving the babysitter a call, Amanda learnt that Mark had already picked up the boys and taken them home with him. Looking at the phone Amanda dialled the number she was reluctant to ring. She listened as the other end rang once, twice and on the third ring he picked up.

"Mark," Amanda said quietly.

"Amanda, thank god; where are you?"

"I'm in my lab. Kate is here, too. Look, Mark, I know you have question and I will try to answer them later, but right now I need to do this autopsy and get the results for Steve. Are you right to watch the boys for me?" Amanda said this so there was no way Mark could interrupt her.

"Sure Amanda, I can watch them. I'm just glad you're safe."

"So am I. I'll call you when I'm finished and on my way over there."

"Ok, see you when you get here."

Mark listened as Amanda hung up her end of the phone. He then turned to face the others that were sitting in the study with him.

"That was Amanda. She's fine and is back at Community General. She is going to bring around the results of the autopsy once she has finished."

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	21. That Evening

**Chapter 21:**** That Evening.**

Just after Mark hung up the phone, Steve and Juliet walked through the front door.

"Hi, everyone," Steve said as he noticed them all sitting in the lounge.

"Hi, Steve, are they your children?" Juliet asked when she saw two boys sitting at the kitchen table eating.

"No, they're Amanda's," Steve whispered to Juliet before he walked over to the two boys. "Hi, boys, so…what did Uncle Mark cook for dinner?"

Juliet watched as the big strong detective she had spent the day with turned into this kind and gentle 'uncle' to the two young boys. After shaking her head, Juliet walked over to the rest.

"How did the talk with Kevin and Shawn go?" Mark asked.

He wanted to let them know that Amanda had called and that she was safe and sound, but he didn't want to say it loud enough for the boys to overhear, so he would do it when Steve was a bit closer.

"Ok, I guess. Kevin still insist that Shawn gave him the key card and that there is a file, but Shawn insist he didn't and he knows nothing about a file."

"Is there any way Shawn can prove he didn't give Kevin the key card?" Henry asked. He wanted to believe Shawn's version of the events, but he also knew Shawn's history with telling the truth.

"He already has," Steve said as he joined the group. "He gave us the other key card that the hotel gave him." Steve pulled out the three evidence bags with the three key cards. "And the hotel manager has the spare one with him."

"So where did Kevin's come from and what about the file?" Gus asked.

Mark was looking at Steve when Gus asked this question. He watched as Steve shifted from a friendly stance to a defensive one. Mark frowned at this because he knew that whatever they found, Steve wasn't going to be coming forward with the information they were after.

Before Steve could answer, Henry stepped in.

"Gus, please don't take this the wrong way but…does Shawn know how to copy a key card?"

Gus stared at Henry and everyone else stared at Gus. They could see the shocked look on Gus' face, but they could also see that he was thinking. Finally, Gus broke the staring contest and looked down at his hands. Twisting them together, he finally decided to answer the question.

"Mr. Spencer, as far as I know, Shawn doesn't know how to copy key cards, but just like you, I also know there is a lot of things Shawn can do that we don't know anything about. So there is a possibility that Shawn does know how to do it."

"Only problem is, I believe Shawn when he says that he doesn't know how Kevin got the key card or about any file," Steve said which got everyone looking at him.

"Did you get that feeling during the first interview when I was with you or the second one that you did alone? The same one where you said that…." Juliet looked over to the two boys who were still eating, she then lowered her voice. "We didn't need to worry about Amanda as she is fine and will be back soon?"

Steve took a deep breath as he looked around the group of faces looking at him. He was now stepping into dangerous waters here and he needed to tread carefully so not to fall into deeper waters.

"Yes, it was the second time I saw Shawn that I came to that conclusion."

"Steve, what aren't you telling us?" Mark asked hoping that Steve wouldn't just close them out like he has before.

"Let's just say that Amanda is helping out a government agency and that I can't elaborate anymore on that. Secondly, what Shawn told me in the second interview, which is off the records, he had no file to start with and I believe him."

"Well," Mark stared to say and like Juliet he had looked over at C.J. and Deon. "Amanda called just before you two walk in and she is fine and back at her lab."

"Thank god," Steve sighed.

"She said that she has to finish the autopsy for you and then she will be around."

"Look Dad, I'll give Amanda a call back and tell her to wait until tomorrow. She most likely is tired and I wouldn't want her to be driving like that. After all, C.J. and Deon are fine here aren't they?"

"Of course they are."

"So, I will sleep in my truck and someone else can sleep in my apartment tonight. There are two beds down there after all."

"Well that sounds like a plan to me," Henry said. "And we do need to get some sleep."

"Well, first up we all need to have something to eat, so while I dish up dinner, Steve, you can make the call to Amanda and the rest of you can relax."

"I'll give you a hand in the kitchen." Juliet got up from the chair she had been sitting in and walked closer to Mark.

"Very well, my dear, glad to have your help."

With that everyone went their ways. Steve made the call to Amanda and in return he received an ear full from Amanda. Steve then showed Gus and Henry where to find everything in his apartment and grabbed what he needed. Then the three men helped C.J. and Deon to get ready for bed. By the time they had gotten back to the table Mark and Juliet had all the food dished up and were waiting for them.

After they had finished eating, they got ready for bed. C.J. and Deon were in the spare room. Henry and Gus were in Steve's apartment; Mark had taken the couch in the lounge as he had given Juliet his room and after a bit of an argument, Mark had convinced Steve to take the couch in the study instead of his truck.

Although both groups were very tired, sleep didn't come easily as the activities of the last few days floated around in their heads, so even thoughts or dreams interfered with any of them getting much sleep that night.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	22. Thoughts at the Beach House

**Chapter 22:**** Thoughts at the Beach House**

Mark tossed and turned, but it isn't the couch he was sleeping on that was causing him the problem, it was trying to unwind from the day's events. In less than twelve hours he had Jesse bite his head off, had meet new friends and had gotten involved in another one of Steve's cases. Amanda had gone missing then turned up out of the blue and in his heart he knew that Steve knows something about what had happened to Amanda, but Steve wasn't talking.

Mark's mind then wandered over to the strange events that lead to all of this. Firstly there had been a shooting at BBQ Bob's again, which had brought Detective Carlton Lassiter to Community General as the shooting victim and his husband Shawn Spencer, who had collapsed and looked like he had been a victim of domestic violence. But all his injures had been received through an attempt on his life a few weeks earlier.

And then Steve had introduced him to Lassiter's partner, Detective Juliet O'Hara, who seemed a very capable officer, and Shawn's father and best friend, Henry Spencer and Burton Guster. As individuals they all seemed very nice, but they made up a strange group to solve crimes. Two detectives, an ex-police officer, a pharmaceutical salesman and one man with an eidetic memory, but pretended to be a psychic. But then again, his crime solving group wasn't a normal one, either. There was Steve the detective, him and Jesse and before that Jack who are doctors and Amanda who is a Medical Examiner, so in all, both of groups get their strength from different sources.

But now the groups are working together and have a murder, an attempted murder and a breaking and entering to solve, and work out if they are connected in some way or just coincidences. But since they all seemed to lead back to Shawn and the hotel room that he was in, Mark very much doubted it.

Not being able to sleep, Mark decided to get up to check on C.J. and Deon. Seeing that they were fast asleep, Mark let out a tired sigh when he saw that it was only two in the morning. He knew full well that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep now, so he decided to make himself a cup of tea. While he was at that end of the house he also checked on Juliet. Seeing the way the sheets were twisted, Mark guessed she, too, wasn't having a peaceful sleep either.

Juliet just couldn't get things off her mind. Since she and Gus had gotten together, he had been her sounding board, someone she could talk to, but they didn't want to disrespect Mark by sharing a bed in his house, but she really needed to talk to someone.

After all, how can two people like Shawn and Carlton keep getting into so much trouble? First, there was the attempt on Shawn's life by Victoria and now this. The worst thing is, had Carlton been shot this time because of something Shawn was involved with? They had ruled out anyone from Carlton's past. They were either dead, back in prison or nowhere near Los Angles. Whatever it was, Carlton was now fighting for his life and Shawn was hiding things from her and so was Steve. What could he find out from Shawn on his own that neither of them wanted her to know, what did they share in common?

Sensing someone watching her from the doorway, Juliet gave up trying to sleep and decide to see who it was. With any luck, it might have been either Gus or Mark; either way she really needed to talk to someone.

Juliet got dressed just in case there was someone up and made her way down the hall to the kitchen, surprised to find that Mark was sitting at the kitchen table going through the reports. Mark looked up at her and smiled. Juliet smiled back and joined him, Mark then went and made them both a cup of tea and then they sat talking.

Meanwhile, Gus, just like all the others, was having trouble sleeping. He was worried about how Shawn had seemed to have closed himself off to everyone. Gus was sure that Shawn would have pushed his way in just to get to the shooter first. Instead, he sat at the hospital doing nothing. It was now that Gus truly believed in how much Shawn loved Lassiter.

But it wasn't just Shawn that had Gus worried. He was worried that Lassiter might not make it and the affect it will have on Shawn and Juliet. He was also worried about how it would affect his relationship with Juliet too. He loved her, had since the day they had met. So tomorrow, if he could, Gus decided that he will go out and buy her a ring and just hope that she will accept. As he rolled over to try and sleep, he heard Juliet's voice talking to someone. Looking over to where Henry was sleeping and seeing no movement, Gus got up to see if he could find who Juliet was talking to.

Henry heard Gus getting up and guessed that he too had heard Juliet's voice and had gone to investigate. He was happy that both Shawn and Gus had found love, but he hoped that both of them were ready for the pain of loving a cop brings and with that thought, it brought him back to what was keeping him awake. Shawn!

Henry loved his son; he really did even if he didn't show it like Mark did for Steve. Different families, different history, but it didn't stop Henry being a little jealous of how close Mark and Steve were. But what worried Henry the most was that he did know Shawn well enough to know that Shawn could be involved in something shady. He just hoped that it wasn't something that could get Shawn and Lassiter killed.

Letting out a sigh, he knew that he wasn't going to get any sleep and since Gus hadn't come back down, he realized that Juliet must be talking to Mark so they must be talking about something important. Henry decided to join the group upstairs and when he emerged from the stairway he could see he was right. Sitting at the kitchen table were Gus, Juliet and Mark going over the case file. Mark looked at him, smiled and pointed towards an empty seat. Henry in turn just nodded his head and sat down and joined in the discussion.

Steve was trying hard to block out the voices in the other room. He really did need some sleep, but the talking and the voices in his head just wouldn't leave him alone. If it wasn't something about the B.P.R. and what he had done for them, the cases or what could be in this so call non-existent file, it was the kiss that Jesse had given him.

The kiss that sealed in all the love he had for his friend. The kiss that said I love you too, Steve, but Steve still couldn't tell if Jesse meant it. After all, Jesse was tired and tired people do strange things, the same strange things that drunken people do, don't they? And what if Jesse did mean it, was Steve really ready to throw away his life and career and to possibly lose his dad's love for the love of Jesse. Yes, he could easily answer that question, it was yes. Yes, he was willing to lose everything he has held so dear to him, in order to love Jesse. All he needed was to be sure that Jesse really loved him and that he too was willing to risk it all.

Letting out a groan as his phone rang, Steve gets that he isn't going to be getting any sleep tonight. Answering his phone, he found that it is his chief on the other end and that he needed Steve in his office right away. After hanging up, Steve put on his coat and walked out to where the others are.

"Sorry, Dad, but Chief Masters just rang up and he wants me and Juliet in his office now."

"Did he say what for?" Mark asked curious as to why the Chief would want them at this time of night.

"No, just that he has some information for us."

"Well, we better get going," Juliet said standing up and giving Gus a kiss. "See you all later."

With that, Steve and Juliet walked out, leaving Mark, Henry and Gus talking and wondering if this new information has anything to do with the case.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	23. Thoughts at the Hospital

**Chapter 23:**** Thoughts at the Hospital**

Amanda sat down to have a rest. After the day she had, she deserved one. First off, her friend Jesse wasn't acting like himself and it had her and Mark very worried. Then Steve had brought in some new people for them to meet. They were here because of a detective that had been shot at BBQ Bobs. They had seemed like nice people but Amanda hadn't really had a chance to get to know them, so she couldn't really say.

Then she was called out to a crime scene to find Steve and the young female detective there and the body of a young woman. At least she had time to tell Steve about Jesse's behaviour before she was kidnapped by the driver of the ambulance and then being made to do the autopsy on the reporter's body by the ambulance driver and another man.

Amanda smiled a little as she remembered that the driver was called Skirt, whether or not it was his real name, she will probably never know. And once she had evidently found what they wanted to know, they drugged her and then dumped her and the body back at Community General in her lab.

Once Amanda had woken up and checked on her kids, she let Mark know she was fine and then she finished the autopsy. Somewhere in the middle of it, Steve had called up and let her know that they would look after the kids and would catch up with her in the morning.

Well…that had gone down like a lead balloon and she had let him have it. She was tired and although she wasn't a hundred per cent sure, she knew in her heart Steve had something to do with her kidnapping. Amanda had regrated what she said as soon as she had hung up, but it was too late now; she would wait until she saw him in the morning to apologise.

So she returned to finish the autopsy and write up the report and now she was just trying to work out what she was going to do. She knew she needed to apologise to Steve, but she also needed answers. The autopsy had revealed that Kate had been strangled and then made up to look like she had been stabbed, which meant the place where she was killed might not be the hotel room after all. Grabbing her report, Amanda headed out of her lab and down the hall. There was one person she might be able to get some answer from and that person was Shawn Spencer.

Jesse was sitting in the doctor's lounge hoping that this last bit of coffee would get him to the end of his shift. He had only an hour and a half left before he could head home. Jesse sat there staring into the cup of black liquid, instead of drinking it, but Jesse's head was just too full of thoughts right at that moment.

He wondered why he wasn't told about Amanda being missing. Had he hurt Mark's feelings that much that he would no longer consider him a friend? And if so, will Mark be ok if he and Steve did become lovers or would Mark cause trouble? No…that isn't Mark and it isn't Mark's way to do something like that, at least not to Steve.

Jesse wondered that if he had also made a mistake by kissing Steve. Sure Steve had kissed him back, but that could have just been Steve trying to comfort him, thinking that Jesse was just over tired and didn't know what was happening.

For Jesse it was just getting to be too much, so he swallowed down the last of his now cold coffee and headed off to check on his patients. He was going to leave Detective Lassiter til last so he could talk to Shawn again before he left.

Shawn was still sitting by Lassiter's bed; he just couldn't leave him, not while he was like this. He did want to leave, he wanted to go out there and find the person who had done this to his gentle Lassie. He wants to take that person and hang him out to dry, like over the top of the highest building in this city and then just loose his grip. But he also knew that Lassie wouldn't have liked him doing something like that. There were even times he thought about giving the B.P.R. a ring and calling in the favour they owned him. But again, he knew Lassie wouldn't have approved.

Shawn looked down at his hands. Was this it? Was this really the life he and Lassie were to live, one after another getting hurt? Would it have been better that he had never asked Lassie to marry him? If he hadn't asked him, Lassie wouldn't be laying here in this hospital fighting for his life and a few weeks ago it wouldn't have been him doing the fighting. Maybe, it would just be better for Lassie that he just walks out of the door behind him, out of this hospital and out of his life forever.

But he couldn't, not now. Maybe if it had been before he had gotten to know Lassie, maybe even if he hadn't fallen so hard for him, but Shawn knew that it was way too late, he had fallen and fallen way too hard to just walk out on Lassie, on their relationship.

Shawn turned around when he heard two people talking behind him, it was Jesse and Amanda and they were standing just outside the doorway. He smiled, glad that Suits and Skirt hadn't hurt her and that she was back safe and sound, but she didn't seem happy. So…when Amanda looked at him, he could see the tiredness in her eyes. Then Jesse also looked his way and he looked more like a lost puppy than a doctor.

But the one thing that they both shared was anger and that anger seemed to be focused on him. Looking back at Lassie's stilled body; he hoped that he was going to be able to talk himself out of whatever he had done. He turned back just in time to see Amanda and Jesse walking into the room.

"Shawn," was all Amanda managed to get out before Jesse finished her sentence.

"We need to talk," Jesse said curtly as he closed the door behind him.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	24. At the Station

**Chapter 24:**** At the Station**

The drive to the station was a quiet one. Both Juliet and Steve had just about said everything they needed to say throughout the day, but there was still one more thing that Juliet wanted to ask Steve. She just wasn't too sure how to ask Steve what she wanted to know. Taking a deep breath, Juliet turned her eyes away from the window and the darkness beyond and decided to break the silence.

"Why did you talk to Shawn without me?"

Steve didn't answer; he just stared out of the windscreen at the road head. But Juliet did notice that Steve had gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. Turning back towards the window, Juliet watched as the road changed from one with only a few street lights along it to the glow of the city at night.

Steve drove down the quiet road, he knew it like the back of his hand, but he also knew that he was tired and that the road conditions could change at any moment, so he welcomed the silence in the car.

So when Juliet had asked him the question, he just wasn't ready for it or ready to answer it either. He gripped the steering wheel tighter, kept his eyes on the road and hoped that she would just forget about it. As they came over the crest of the hill and the city lights came into view, Steve could see Juliet turn away. With all his heart he hoped that it would mean that Juliet would give up this line of questioning.

After another fifteen minutes of silent driving, Steve pulled up into the parking lot of the station. After parking in his designated spot, Steve and Juliet climbed out, but before Steve could go too far, Juliet pulled him back and pushed him against the truck. Although Steve knows that he could easily take Juliet down, he wasn't in the mood to do so.

"What! What do you want, Juliet?"

Juliet could hear the tiredness and frustration in Steve's voice, but she really did need answers and if this was the only way she was going to get them so be it.

"What do I want? What do you think I want? I want to know why you talked to Shawn on your own."

"I…"

"Don't, don't you lie to me, because if you try to, I will ask you the same question in front of your chief and see if he can get the answer out of you."

"Ok, I needed to know about the file and I had this strange feeling Shawn wouldn't talk if you were there, and I was right, he did talk to me."

"So what did he say?"

"He…he told me that there was no file and yes, I know that he had already said that, but…I'm sorry, but that is all I can say to you, at least for now. Please can you let it go now?"

Juliet looked at Steve with worried eyes. He was sweating and she could see that he was also very nervous. Juliet nodded her head to say ok and she watched as Steve relaxed a little.

"Thank you. Now, we better not keep Chief Masters waiting."

"Lead the way," Juliet said as she waved her hand towards the station.

Steve gave Juliet a small smile before he moved towards the building, Juliet following behind. But they had only taken a few steps before a bullet hit the ground just in front of Steve. Steve stopped and stared at the hole, that was until Juliet pulled him back towards the truck as another bullet struck the spot where he had been standing.

"Thanks," Steve said as he recovered from the shock and pulled out his phone.

Steve quickly called the station to alert them of the shooting and watched as officers came flooding out of the station, guns pulled trying to see if they could find the shooter and to get Steve and Juliet inside.

Once Steve and Juliet were inside and safe, Steve made a beeline for the chief's office. It was the chief who had called him and asked him to come down to the station and now, someone is shooting at him.

Juliet walked as quickly as she could to try and keep up with Steve. It reminded her of Lassiter when they had first meet and he always tried to walk ahead of her.

But once they had reached the office door, Steve still stopped and knocked before entering. Once they were inside, Juliet could see that it wasn't just Chief Masters inside, Captain Newman was also there and they were looking at something on the Chief's desk. Both men looked up from whatever it was that they had been looking at as the two detectives entered the office.

"Sloan, Detective O'Hara," Chief Masters said as he eyed Steve off.

"Chief, Captain, if you haven't heard, someone just took a shot at me."

"Actually it was two and if I hadn't pulled you out of the way the second one would have hit you," Juliet added seeing that Steve wasn't thinking straight.

"Yes, we heard," Captain Newman answered. "Steve, Detective O'Hara you better sit down for this."

Steve and Juliet did what they were told and then waited to see where this was going. So when Chief Masters passed Steve a piece of paper, he couldn't hide the fact that his hands were shaking. Looking at the paper, Steve's eyes opened up widely.

"Do you recognise any of the names on that paper Sloan?"

"Yes, they were part of my team when I was in the army. Why?"

"Because…because the bullet that hit Detective Lassiter came from the same gun that killed all of the people whose names are highlighted on that list."

"Then that means…"

"Yes, we think that Detective Lassiter's shooter was after you and for some reason he mistakenly took Detective Lassiter for you."

Steve just sat there looking at the list for a few moments more, before looking at Juliet, shock written all over his face.

"I want you to stay here in the station from this point on until we get this person. Do you understand, Sloan?"

"Yes, Chief, I do, but I have a job and a murder to solve, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going home to get some sleep. Goodnight.

And with that Steve stood up and just walked out. Juliet sat there, that was until Chief Masters just nodded his head and she took off after Steve, catching up with him just as he walked out of the station.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	25. Danger on the Trip Home

**Chapter 25:**** Danger on the Trip Home.**

The drive back to the beach house was a long one, not as in the actual drive was long, but because the atmosphere was full of tension.

Juliet couldn't even start to put herself in Steve's shoes. The idea that someone out there was trying to kill you would be bad enough, let alone knowing that someone had been shot by mistake instead of you would do her head in, although…Steve seemed to be taking it pretty well.

The shock she had seen in his face at the station was gone and seemed to have been replaced by anger. Did Steve know who was trying to kill him, or is there something else he's not talking about?

Since meeting Steve just short of twenty four hours ago, Juliet had gone from chasing a shooter that had shot her partner, to having a knife at her throat and having Steve lie to her time and time again. And to be honest, Juliet was starting to get really sick of it.

Steve just sat in the driver's seat looking straight ahead. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that someone was trying to kill him. And that they had already killed nearly all of the members of his squad from the days he was in the army. It was just too surreal even for him, especially when you take in the fact that Detective Lassiter has been shot by mistake instead of him.

God, what hell Juliet must think of him? What the hell will the others back at the beach house think and worse, what will his dad think? But the truth is, isn't what they think, it's what he was thinking and he wasn't at all happy with what was going on in his head.

There are three people or groups he knew of that could want him dead, other than the usual suspects of crooks that he had put away. There was 'B.P.R.' but as far as he knows he hadn't done anything to upset them. Then there was Keratin Clean but the last thing Steve had heard about him was that he had gone overseas. Then there was 'HIM' and if it was him, then Steve knew he was in deep trouble, because he wouldn't let anything stop him, not until Steve and the others were dead.

When Steve had left the army he thought it was finished. The court case had cleared them all of any wrongdoing. Not that it had helped Steve to clear his own conscious. He has, and will always, believe that they could have done things differently and no one would have gotten hurt or killed.

Steve was so caught up with trying to work out who was after him that he didn't notice the other car that was following him, until it hit him.

Startled, Juliet let a little yelp and quickly tried to grab onto something. Steve gripped the wheel tighter, trying to keep his pickup steady and then he pressed harder on the gas pedal.

Juliet watched the vehicle behind them get closer as Steve tried to speed up to get away. Just before the other vehicle hit the pickup again, Juliet looked out of her window and down the side of the hill they were on. It was dark and full of trees; she could also hear the ocean below.

Juliet was thrown back into her seat as the vehicle behind them hit them once, twice, three times. Pulling out her gun she went to lean out of her window.

"What the hell are you doing?" Steve yelled at her.

"I'm going to try and shoot their wheels. What do you think I'm doing?"

"Get back in here," Steve yelled as he reached over and pulled on her shirt. "It's too dark and there are a lot of houses nearby, they're just hidden by the trees. If you miss or a bullet ricochets it could hit someone in a house."

Juliet quickly sat back down just as another strike came, this time Steve lost control since he only had one hand on the wheel and the other was still on her. The pickup swerved all over the road as Steve fought to try and regain control, but their attacker had no intention of letting them do that and he hit the rear corner of the truck causing the pickup to spin even more.

The next thing they knew, the pickup had hit something in the road and now it was rolling. Juliet tried to count how many times they rolled, but just after the third time, she hit her head on something and blacked out.

Steve wasn't as lucky. It was just after the forth flip when the pickup had left the road. It started down the hillside and as it went, it picked up speed. Steve was glad when the pickup stopped moving and that it had landed on its wheels. At least he was glad until a face came into view.

Swallowing hard Steve knew he was dead. He had told them all he would get his revenge for what they had done, that he would kill them for killing his family and it looks like he is about to fulfil his threat.

Steve watched as a gun came into focus so he closed his eyes to wait for death. And whose face appeared behind those closed eyes? His Dad's, no; Amanda's, no; it was Jesse's. Why did he kiss Jesse back? He had given Jesse hope and now, well now it looks like he is going to break Jesse's heart.

Suddenly Steve heard gun fire and he waited for the impact, pain and then death that would follow, but there was no impact. All he had was the pain and a ringing in his ears. As the ringing cleared, the sound of shouting came into focus and when he opened his eyes, it was people from the nearby houses that were there and 'he' was nowhere to be seen.

It was now that Steve's body gave in and he blacked out.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	26. What Amanda and Jesse Talked About?

**Chapter 26:**** What Amanda and Jesse Talked About?**

Amanda walked down the halls of Community General heading toward the room where Shawn Spencer was sitting, watching over his husband. She had just had one of the worst days in her life and for some reason it was all connected to this one person. Just as she rounded the corner she saw Jesse coming the other way.

Jesse himself was on the way to see Shawn. He had taken advice from Shawn and now…well now he questioned whether or not he should have listened to the stranger after all. It wasn't the fact that Steve had rejected his advances; in fact Steve had kissed him back. It was just that Jesse was now confused as to what to do and to add to his problem he was worried about how Mark would react and the fact that Amanda was missing.

So when he saw Amanda turning the corner and heading his way, Jesse was even more confused than he was a second ago. They met just outside the door that led to the room they both were heading to and both of them could see the tiredness and frustration in the other's face.

"Amanda, I was told you were missing."

"I was," Amanda answered confused that no one had told Jesse that she had turned up. "Sorry, I thought that Mark or Steve would have told you."

"I don't think Mark is talking to me at the moment," Jesse said looking down at his feet.

Amanda could see and hear that Jesse was upset about something and guessed it wasn't just the fact that no one had told him about her.

"I'm sure he is. Who told you I was missing?"

"No one, I was in there when Steve was interviewing Shawn and he mentioned that the ambulance you were in had gone missing. Are you ok and how did you get back?"

"I'm sorry to hear that, Jesse, maybe Mark didn't know at the time either and I'm fine. I was taken by some men to do the autopsy that I would have done here. Once they got their questions answered they brought me and the body back here. Are you ok, Jesse?"

"I guess I am, I sort of did something and now I'm not sure if I should have done it and even if Mark was talking to me, it's not something I can ask him about. So I thought I would try and talk to Shawn again."

"You do remember that Mark pointed out that Shawn isn't a psychic, right."

"Yes, Amanda, I do remember, but this is something to do with the heart and well…Shawn sort of understands what I'm going through."

Amanda watched, as Jesse blushed a little. She couldn't understand how after all these years he could still be so naïve.

"So what are you doing now? Are you still doing the autopsy?"

"No, I've finished it and I'm taking the results to Steve, Mark and the others in the morning, I had a few other questions I need answered and I have this strange feeling that Shawn can answer them."

"Why's that?"

"The two men that took me, they were more interested in this tattoo on her back." Amanda showed Jesse the photo of the Black Panther she had with her. "And one of them also had this tattoo on his shoulder."

"I know that tattoo."

"So do I, Steve has the same tattoo on his back."

"So why are you talking to Shawn about this and not Steve?"

"For starters, Steve rang me up and told me not to come to the beach house until tomorrow, he was worried about me driving there tired and secondly, I just have this feeling that Shawn knows something more than he is telling everyone. After all, it's his husband that was shot and it was his hotel room that was tossed and had a dead woman's body in it and it was a friend of his that held a knife against Juliet's neck in said room."

"Yes, everything does seem to lead to Shawn and that tattoo doesn't it, and I think Steve thought that too. That's why he talked to Shawn on his own and not with Juliet in the room, but whatever he found out it must have been good. Steve even knew you were going to be safe and back soon."

"Now how did he now that?"

"I don't know, Steve just mentioned it, why?"

"Because, Suits, that's what I called one of the men who took me, got a phone call while I was with him and just after that is when they returned me back to my office."

"Do you think Shawn had something to do with your kidnapping?"

"Maybe." It was now that Amanda and Jesse noticed that Shawn was watching them. "Maybe we better ask him ourselves."

They watched as he looked back towards the bed his husband was on and they made their way into the room. By the time Shawn had looked back at them they had already entered the room.

"Shawn," was all Amanda managed to get out before Jesse finished her sentence.

"We need to talk," Jesse said curtly as he closed the door behind him.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	27. Amanda, Jesse and Shawn have a Talk

**Chapter 27:**** Amanda, Jesse and Shawn have a Talk**

Shawn stared at the two people who had just walked into the room. He had gotten to know Jesse since he had continued to check on Lassie. But as for Amanda, he had only seen her a few times and that was mainly because Suits had kidnapped her.

For some reason they seemed to be angry at him, but for the life of him, Shawn couldn't work out why. He hadn't left this room since Lassie had been brought in and he had no plans to leave it until either Lassie leaves or he tells him to.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Amanda was the first to speak. "What do you know about the death of Kate Mitcham?"

"I don't know anything about Kate's death, but if I were you, I'd have a close look at her husband. He's a nice piece of work and I know he doesn't mind using her as a punching bag."

"You seem to know a lot about Kate's personal life."

Shawn looked at Jesse and took a deep breath. "You get to know a person really well when you find them half beaten to death in the middle of a park. That's how I met her."

"Oh, and her husband did it?"

"Yes, but of course he denied it and she backed him up. I just wish I could understand why people do that."

"From what you said to Steve about Kevin, he had rescued you from an abusive relationship."

"Yes…Kevin did rescue me from an abusive relationship, but not in the way you are thinking."

"And what do you think we are thinking?" Amanda asked.

"You think I was being beaten, but I wasn't. I was the abuser. Kevin saved me before I ended up killing my partner and myself."

"Now I'm confused," Jesse said as he tried to work Shawn's words around to make sense to him.

"You see, Jesse, a lot of people, including doctors like you, assume that in an abusive relationship, there is only the one victim. Only one side of the story is ever listened to. Well, I was on the other side of that story; I was the one no one listened to, until Kevin did. I didn't want to hurt my partner, but I was heading towards self-destruction and no one wanted to help me. I had tried to just push them away, but they wouldn't leave and in the end, instead of hurting myself, I hurt them."

"I'm sorry to hear that happened to you and to Kate, but I was kidnapped and I think it has something to do with this." Amanda handed Shawn the photo of the tattoo.

"It's a fake; she copied mine and had a fake one made up."

"You have this tattoo as well?"

"You both would have seen Steve at some point in your lives without his shirt on, so you know he has this tattoo as well."

"We do, and what does it mean?"

"We both belong to the same government agency and that…is all I can say about it. But I see Suits and Skirts didn't hurt you."

"So you were the one who Suits received the phone call from."

"Yes, Steve wondered if the…group…had taken you and I just rang up to see. I had no concerns that they would hurt you."

"Thank you, so…do you think Kate's husband could use rubber stickers and fake blood to make it look like she had been stabbed?"

"Should, he's a make-up artist for a film crew."

"Thank you, it will help when I do up my report and you have put my mind at ease as to what those that took me might do. But can you do something for me."

"And what's that?"

"They left me a note thanking me and saying that I did a good job. They also said that they might borrow me again. Can you ask them to just come and ask me? I don't think I could handle being punched in the face again."

"I will see what I can do for you," Shawn answered smiling at Amanda.

"Thank you, now Jesse, you wanted to ask him something, didn't you?"

While Amanda had been talking to Shawn, Jesse had moved around to the other side of the bed and was checking up on Lassiter. When he heard his name, Jesse looked up.

"Yes, it just about what we had talked about earlier."

"And…?"

"Well, I sort of took your advice and now I think I have made a mistake."

"Really?" Shawn could see that Jesse didn't really want to talk about this in front of Amanda and he turned to face her. "I think Jesse wants to talk to me alone, Amanda."

Amanda looked between the two men and seeing that Shawn wasn't trying to be mean, just concerned that Jesse was embarrassed. She nodded her head and left them alone.

After Amanda left, Shawn turned back to him. He could see that Jesse was having a battle within himself and he hoped he could help the young doctor out.

"So what happened when you kissed Steve?"

"He kissed back."

"I'm lost, isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yes, it is, but I guess I didn't think about the rest."

"The rest, as in sex…as in, what?"

"I, I think Mark is angry with me and…well, he might not accept me and Steve as lovers and I can't…"

"You're worried that if you and Steve become lovers, you both will lose Mark. As a friend to you and Steve will lose his dad, right?"

"Yes, and Steve and Mark have the closest father/son relationship I have ever seen and I don't want to be the one to destroys it."

"You need to talk to Steve and find out where he wants to go with this. It's not just your decision anymore."

"So you recommend that I talk to Steve."

"It's the only way you are ever going to know and if you are going to be lovers, then you both need to make the decisions."

"I know that. Is that what Kevin taught you?"

"No, I always knew it; I just couldn't apply it back then. Now it's different." Shawn took Lassie's hand in his. "When do you think he will wake up?"

"Remember, I have him in a drug induced coma at the moment. I will start reducing the drugs tomorrow and maybe in two days he could be awake."

"Thank you for taking such good care of him."

"You're welcome and Shawn…"

"Sorry to interrupt, Jesse," Amanda said as she busted through the door. "But I thought you both would like to know that they're bringing in Steve and Juliet."

"What happened?" Shawn and Jesse asked at the same time.

"It looks like they were run off the road. There's also another person coming in and he's been shot."

"Has Mark been told?"

"Not yet, I was just about to call him."

"Can I do it, Amanda?"

"Sure, Jesse, I'm heading back to the ER, I'll see you there."

"I'll be there in a minute," Jesse said as he took out his phone.

Everyone at the house was just about to head back to bed when Mark's phone rang. Mark looked at the caller ID and was worried when he saw Jesse's name. Looking at the others who had all stopped in their tracks, Mark answered it.

"Jesse, what's wrong?"

"Mark, Amanda just let me know that Steve and Juliet have been in an accident and are on their way in. I just thought you would like to know."

Mark covered his mouth with his hand and closed his eyes for a moment. "How bad are they, do you know anything?" Mark nodded at what was being told to him and hung up. He turned to the others in the room. "Steve and Juliet have been in an accident, they're on their way to the ER right now."

Mark didn't have to say anything else, everyone just grabbed their coats and they were out the door in no time.

On the way in, they stopped at the site where Steve had gone over and spoke to the officer in charge. The rest of the drive in was done in complete silence.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


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